Lufthansa to change second A380 engine: spokesman

November 18, 2010 | 20:40
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German flag carrier Lufthansa said Thursday it would change a Rolls-Royce engine on one of its Airbus A380, the second such operation since a Qantas flight suffered a mid-air blowout earlier this month.

The engine is "from an old model" and "showed no oil leak," the apparent cause of the Qantas incident that forced a superjumbo into an emergency landing in Singapore, Lufthansa spokesman Thomas Jachnow told AFP.

"Our planes are all relatively new. Qantas and Singapore Airlines have older machines," he added.

Earlier Thursday, Qantas said that Rolls-Royce may replace up to 40 engines on Airbus A380 superjumbos.

In the wake of the emergency, the European Aviation Safety Agency ordered airlines to carry out new inspections of the Rolls-Royce engines.

The double-decker A380, which carries 525 passengers and weighs 560 tonnes at takeoff, was hailed as the future of long-haul aviation at its commercial launch in 2007.

Lufthansa has four of the planes, with its latest acquisition due to make its maiden flight on Thursday.

"This plane is not affected," said Jachnow.

AFP

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