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Jan. 5, 2012 - Qantas has reported that work to repair the Airbus A380 damaged by an uncontained engine failure in November 2010 is nearing completion. The aircraft is expected to return to service in March 2012.

It was originally thought that the aircraft, registered VH-OQA (cn 014) would be written-off following the emergency landing in Singapore. However, repairs to electrical, hydraulic and pneumatic systems, together with the work to repair the extensive damage to the wing’s structure, will enable the aircraft to rejoin the Qantas A380 fleet and resume revenue service.Following the completion of investigations Rolls-Royce has announced the failure was caused by a manufacturing problem and has supplied four new engines for the aircraft. Qantas has also received a settlement from Rolls-Royce of AU $95 million to cover lost income resulting from the grounding of their A380 fleet.

Airbus employees together with local SIAEC and Qantas staff are carrying out the repairs to the airframe at Changi airport in Singapore. The cost, which will be covered by the airline’s insurer will be around AU$135 million (US$139.75 million). Once repairs and the subsequent certification process have been completed the aircraft will be cleared to rejoin the Qantas fleet.

During the work to repair the wing on VH-OQA cracks were discovered in some non-critical wing skin attachments. Subsequent inspections have found the same cracks on other A380s operated by both Qantas and Singapore Airlines. Airbus has confirmed that as the cracks are in non-critical components that will have no effect on operations and there will be no limitations placed on the airframes. The manufacturer has developed a fix, which will be implemented as part of routine 4 year maintenance activities.