Lufthansa has disclosed that its second Airbus A380 has undergone an in-flight engine shutdown just a couple of days after entering into service.

The aircraft, powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines, was delivered on 19 July and put into service last week on the Frankfurt-Tokyo route.

Lufthansa says that the aircraft was flying the return sector on 6 August when, about an hour before landing at Frankfurt, the crew took a "precautionary" decision to shut the engine down.

A spokesman for the airline says the decision followed the generation of "confusing numbers" on a cockpit indicator.

Lufthansa A380
 © Airbus

The indicator showed that the problem centred on oil pressure. Lufthansa's main A380 maintenance base is located at Frankfurt, and the aircraft - serial number 41 - underwent an engine change in order to return it to service as quickly as possible.

Inspection revealed "substances" in the filter but Lufthansa has not given further details. The company had a spare engine available and the aircraft went back into service on 7 August.

Both of the carrier's A380s are operating the Tokyo Narita route, providing a daily service to the Japanese capital from Frankfurt.

Source: Air Transport Intelligence news