On the road for almost a month Airbus A380 flew on unnoticed with a tool in its engine
A Qantas Airbus A380 flew for around 294 hours with a tool in its engine. The tool was not found until around a month after it went missing. A report sheds light on the incident.
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- A Qantas Airbus A380 flew for almost a month with a 1.25 meter long tool in its engine.
- The nylon rod had been left there during maintenance.
- The incident occurred due to poor compliance with tool control procedures, as the Australian Transport Safety Bureau report shows.
- Qantas responded with stricter safety guidelines and mandatory tool checks for all employees.
Tool mishap at the Australian airline Qantas: An Airbus A380 flew for almost a month with a nylon rod in the engine without it being noticed.
It was not a small tool, but a 1.25 meter long and 2.5 centimeter wide thing. This was reported by Aerotelegraph, citing the final report on the case, which was published by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) in mid-November.
Technician went on lunch break, his colleagues overlooked tool
The tool was left behind on December 6, 2023, and then found again during an inspection in Los Angeles on January 1, 2024. The ATSB report now sheds light on the background and errors that led to this unusual incident.
The nylon rod is said to have been inserted during an endoscope inspection of the outer left engine. This inspection took place on the first day of a three-day maintenance period in Los Angeles.
The technician using the tool left work at lunchtime and two of his colleagues eventually overlooked the nylon rod in the engine. Although the absence of the tool was noticed and its disappearance communicated by email, the Airbus A380 was released and flew to Melbourne.
"Aircraft flew a total of 293.74 hours with the tool in the engine"
According to Aerotelegraph, the ATSB report cites three factors that led to the incident. Two technicians did not realize that the tool remained in the engine. In addition, Qantas Engineering's lost tool procedure was not initiated and the aircraft was released even though the tool was still missing.
"The aircraft flew 34 flight cycles, a total of 293.74 hours, with the tool in the engine before it was discovered on January 1, 2024," Aerotelegraph quoted ATSB as saying.
Qantas Engineering responded to the incident by informing its staff on January 2 about the importance of returning all tools. A new safety policy was reportedly issued on March 4, making compliance with tool control requirements mandatory for all employees.
This article was created with the help of artificial intelligence (AI). All content created by AI is verified by the editorial team.
