A Look at Engine Explosion on a Air France A380 Aircraft Yesterday

Photo taken by Air France passenger David Rehmar who was on the A380 flight from Paris to Los Angeles that was diverted to Newfoundland after one of its engines sustained serious damage. 

Photograph: David Rehmar


An Air France A380 superjumbo jetliner taking more than 500 people from Paris to Los Angeles made an emergency landing in Canada on Saturday following “serious damage” to one of its four engines, the airline said.

“Flight 066 landed without further damage at the Goose Bay military airport in Canada and all of the 520 people on board were evacuated with no injuries,” an Air France spokesman in Paris said.

The Guardian:  Engine breaks up on Air France Airbus A380, forcing emergency landing in Canada

The article takes that tone throughout regarding the danger of the situation and that accompanied by comments such as this one.

“Engine failure halfway over the Atlantic ocean … birdstrike possibility,” he wrote.

- Guardian

Let's review.  The A380 is a large and fast, high-flying aircraft.  Many of its flights are extremely long haul so they will be flying at 30,000-40,000 ft.  This reporter hasn't seen too many (i.e. any) avians at that altitude.


That generally grim vibe persists through the article but there's more to it than that.

The article got me curious about the minimum number of engines needed to fly.  I had heard at one time they can fly on only two so I wanted to know.  It turns out that old statement was true ... to a point.  The aircraft may be able to fly on two depending on different factors such as altitude, etc.  They can definitely fly on three, however.

The Rockhouse sees this as an excellent example of the failsafes working since the motor blew right up and yet there was no shrapnel, etc.  There was no fire beyond the engine due to protections designed into the engine to prevent any fire from getting out of control.  All of those systems worked perfectly.

The pilots also did a superlative job since they were switching to flying in a different way to compensate for the loss but they did it flawlessly.

All in all, it looks like all the parts worked perfectly.  Extremely well done.