Qantas A380 Flies 34 Flights with Tool Lodged in Engine: ATSB Report
The Australian Transport Safety Board (ATSB) has released its official investigation into a concerning incident involving a Qantas Airbus A380. The aircraft flew nearly 300 hours and completed 34 flights with a tool lodged in one of its four engines. This event, which went undetected for almost a month, has led to significant safety recommendations from the ATSB to ensure that similar incidents do not occur in the future.
Incident Overview
On December 6, 2023, a Qantas Airbus A380-842 (VH-OQI) completed a scheduled flight from Sydney to Los Angeles. During its scheduled maintenance turnaround at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), engineers conducted routine checks on the aircraft in preparation for its return flight to Sydney. The aircraft then flew for 294 hours and completed 34 sectors (17 round-trip flights) without incident. It wasn’t until January 1, 2024, during a follow-up maintenance check in Los Angeles, that the issue was discovered.
During this inspection, a maintenance engineer found a 1.25-meter (4 feet) nylon tool lodged against the low-pressure outlet guide vanes in one of the engines. These vanes are a crucial part of the engine’s fan. The tool, which is used for turning an engine compressor during a borescope inspection, had been left in the engine during a previous maintenance check in Los Angeles 26 days earlier.
ATSB Findings and Investigation
The ATSB’s investigation revealed that despite a mandatory missing tool report being filed, the tool remained undetected during subsequent maintenance checks and pre-flight inspections over the course of the 34 flights. The ATSB found that maintenance engineers failed to notice the tool lodged in the engine during checks for foreign objects, and the certifying engineer allowed the aircraft to depart without the tool being accounted for.
Despite the tool being deformed by the high-energy airflow within the engine, it did not cause any significant damage to the engine itself. However, the ATSB emphasized the potential risks of foreign object debris (FOD) and stressed that such incidents could have severe consequences for flight safety.
ATSB Chief Commissioner Angus Mitchell stated, “Foreign object debris and damage can pose a significant threat to the safe operation of aircraft, which is why regulations, procedures, and training are in place to limit the risk of foreign object damage, especially from objects introduced during maintenance.”
Qantas Response and Safety Measures
Following the discovery, Qantas Engineering management took immediate action, briefing all staff on the importance of properly returning and tracking tools used during maintenance. An internal investigation was launched, and a new safety directive was implemented, reinforcing the need for adherence to tool control procedures. A spokesperson for Qantas confirmed that the airline had fully cooperated with the ATSB and that it takes the issue very seriously, despite the tool causing no damage to the engine.
“We take this extremely seriously and while there was no damage sustained to the engine, it is critical that the correct lost tool processes are followed,” the spokesperson said. “Since this event, we issued an internal safety directive reminding our engineers and tool store team members to adhere to these processes to ensure this doesn’t happen again.”
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