pauldb

I'm on the above flight. Level out at 6000ft, couldn't clear "minor engine fault", dumped fuel and landed back after 90mins.

Any info as to why appreciated!

pauldb

Engine couldn't be fixed so flight cancelled. Captain thought would be a long wait for repair/alt. So I assume QF10 tonight will have problems.

Rebooking was a mess. EK doing the hard work, with one QF staff present. The process was a mess (system linkage?), I was about 10th in line and waited 90mins. Booked on to first EK flight but down to Y from J. No obvious plan for those unwilling to downgrade (bussed to Al Bustan?), only about 30 Y seats available on EK/BA today. Refused rebooking on to VS (J available).

pomkiwi

I would probably have taken VS J over EK Y. Any reason why it didn't appeal?

Globaliser

I read it as EK/QF refusing to rebook the OP onto VS, rather than the OP refusing to travel on VS!

pomkiwi

I see what you mean - makes more sense now

SW7London

If it was just a "minor engine fault" I wonder why they didn't continue to LHR where they had 16+ hrs between flights to fix the issue? i.e. no delays to pax?

A380 can fly on 3 engines, and this isn't a route over a long uninhabited ocean.

If the fault was more severe and required an inspection or the crew had concerns about other engines I wonder why they referred to it as a "minor engine fault".

Yachtman

Drb, most likely they have a strict SOP/Safety Management System which defines the correct course of action depending on the indicated fault, therefore the decision is out of the pilots hands, they follow a flow chart/procedure/manual and if it says when such an alarm occurs turn back, they will.
I have much doubt they'd have turned back in a whim.

Globaliser

If there are 500 or so passengers on board, some of whom will be nervous (or worse) about flying at all, and if you have already decided that the correct thing to do is to return to origin, it is not hard to think of reasons why you might describe it as a "minor engine fault" whatever the true nature of the problem is. One shouldn't always take everything that's said by everyone as literally true, because there are sometimes there are perfectly good reasons for some window dressing.

The crew would not simply continue the flight on the assumption that everything else will be fine for the remainder of the flight, which is an assumption that underlies the suggestion that they should "continue to LHR where they had 16+ hrs between flights to fix the issue". Safety management requires considering what else might go wrong later in the flight, and what effect that might have on the remainder of the aircraft's systems and on what the crew would need to do then. The level of redundancy on the aircraft will also matter: The 380 has less redundancy than the 747, for example, so it's possible that a 380 might divert or return to origin when a 747 crew would happily continue to destination. All this will be taken into account in the procedures to which Yachtman has referred.

And the fact that it was not an overwater flight is not the only consideration in relation to a later diversion: there are likely to be fewer diversion airfields en route than for a smaller aircraft. So if a diversion did become necessary, the resulting disruption to everyone could be much greater than if the aircraft returned almost immediately to an airport where there are ample facilities for passengers during the delay and many alternative flights to LHR on which to reaccommodate them. Take this recent incident as an example - a 30-hour delay, much of that spent waiting at Baku.

Yachtman

Noticed this morning a Qantas A380 outside the maintenance hangar at DXB, perhaps the same one with technical issues yesterday?

Incidently I almost transferred onto this flight, but changed my mind at the last moment.

avm2806

This coupled with the recent MEL-DXB-MEL turnaround, where they dropped LHR due to tech fault on incoming delayed flight from LAX - all within a span of two days - QF operations on the 380 must be really messed up and I am sure will take a couple of days to stabilize

celle

I'l be flying QF9, MEL-DXB-LHR, in early June. Hope all the problems are sorted out by then!

LHR/MEL/Europe FF

make sure you get your correct mileage credit and full refund for the cost of the downgraded segment. Qantas has a set chart for this, but i would see if you can beat that... the chart isn't overly generous.

I would be matching a one-way economy (based on lowest round-trip) EK fare vs the QF business class fare for the sector involved.

bad form they wouldn't accommodate you on VS.