Rolls-Royce A380 engine had 'manufacturing fault'

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Source: -BBC News

Air safety investigators in Australia say they have identified a serious manufacturing fault with engines fitted to Airbus A380 passenger jets.

A misaligned component of the Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engine used on a Qantas A380 which exploded last month thinned the wall of an oil pipe.

This caused "fatigue cracking", which prompted leakage and ultimately a fire.

The investigators warned that the critical safety issue could potentially lead to "catastrophic engine failure".

"This condition could lead to an elevated risk of fatigue crack initiation and growth, oil leakage and potential catastrophic engine failure from a resulting oil fire," the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) said.

It said the problem was "understood to be related to the manufacturing process."