A Qantas A380 super-jumbo which suffered two tyre blowouts while landing at Sydney Airport will be assessed before a decision is taken whether to examine other aircraft in the national carrier's fleet.
The plane has been grounded while an investigation is carried out into the incident last night, which sent showers of sparks and flames flying from its undercarriage. It happened as flight QF32, with 244 people aboard, arrived from Singapore about 8.20pm.
There is speculation on aviation internet message boards that brakes on the aircraft locked up, causing the tyres to burst. But a Qantas spokeswoman said the cause of the incident was not yet known and the aircraft, which was removed from the runway at 2.30am on Thursday, was still being assessed.
It is the first time a Qantas A380 superjumbo has suffered a tyre blowout since the airline took delivery of its first in 2008.
Qantas now has six A380s, which are used on routes to London, Singapore and the US. Another 14 are on order, the airline says.
Wednesday's dramatic landing was captured on video by passengers aboard the aircraft, which Seven Network aired on Thursday. No passengers were at risk at any point, Qantas said.
The aircraft will be grounded for an unspecified period of time while the cause is investigated, the spokeswoman added. It was also too early to say if the incident would have implications for other A380s in the Qantas fleet, or A380s used by other airlines, she said.
It was the second mechanical mishap on a Qantas aircraft in consecutive days. On Tuesday, another Qantas flight was disrupted after a pilot discovered an issue in the third engine. The near-full QF5 jumbo was forced to turn back to Sydney shortly after taking off 5.10pm (AEDT), dumping fuel into the sea on the way in order to meet landing requirements.
It also comes as industrial action threatens to disrupt Qantas flights over the Easter period. At meetings on Wednesday, members of the Association of Professional Engineers, Scientists and Managers Australia (APESMA) voted to extend overtime bans through the four-day break beginning on Friday.
The airline said their action would not affect operations.
Source: The Australian
Here's the video a passenger captured: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjQYsi7MIIE&feature=player_embedded
Main gear port side, I believe.
Actually , there are so many wheels on the A380 ..how many exactly ? ..strange heard that some of the boeings were having braking problems ..and now this airbus .. you may check this article out ..u will know how safe or unsafe these airplanes actually are http://www.aircraftcompare.com/aircraftdetails/Airbus_A380_800/61