Australia's flagship carrier Qantas says it has reached an
$A95 million ($NZ124m) settlement with Rolls-Royce over last
year's mid-air disintegration of a superjumbo engine, which
temporarily forced the grounding of its entire fleet of
A380s.
Qantas CEO Alan Joyce said the terms of the agreement are
confidential, but said the settlement's profit and loss
impact would amount to an $A95m boost for the airline.
Joyce said the settlement marks an end to the legal
proceedings Qantas launched against Rolls-Royce in the
Federal Court of Australia in December.
In November, a Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engine on a Qantas A380
disintegrated shortly after takeoff from Singapore, forcing
the plane to make an emergency landing.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau's interim report on
the A380 incident said a manufacturing defect in an oil pipe
deep within one of the engines led to an oil leak, which
sparked a fire. The fire caused a disintegration of one of
the engine's giant turbine discs, sending pieces of it
shooting through the plane's wing.
The engine explosion was the most significant safety issue an
A380 had ever faced since it began passenger flights in 2007,
and prompted intense scrutiny of Rolls-Royce engines.
The settlement will help Qantas recover from the millions it
lost following the incident. The airline was forced to
temporarily ground its entire fleet of A380s for a series of
inspections, and Joyce said the plane damaged by the
explosion won't return to service until February.
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