Qantas finds more 'issues' with engines

Qantas has found issues with three more Rolls-Royce jet engines on its grounded Airbus A380 fleet, dashing the likelihood of their early return to service.

Two engines - on aircraft in Sydney and Los Angeles - have been taken off for closer inspection as a result of the eight-hour tests Rolls-Royce recommended, Australian newspapers say.

It now seems increasingly unlikely that the grounding of the fleet will be limited to the 48 hours outlined by chief executive Alan Joyce on Friday, the report in the Sydney Morning Herald says.

Thousands of people will experience delays as the airline shuffles its fleet to cover the grounded A380s, spokesman Simon Rushton said.

The airline has one A380 in Singapore under investigation, one in Germany for servicing, one in Sydney and three in Los Angeles undergoing checks after the midair engine explosion on QF32 on Thursday.

Qantas will not say what the nature of the issues is, or whether the three engines are being examined for the same matters.

"It's things that might apply to different components. I can't be more specific than that," Mr Rushton said.

He said reports that the inspection of the Sydney plane's engines centred on the intermediate-pressure turbine bearings were incorrect.

The engine explosion on QF32 from Singapore to Sydney on Thursday, the overheated engine on QF6 on Friday from Singapore and the cockpit warning of a hydraulic problem on QF29 from Hong Kong to London on the same day has overshadowed what should have been a weekend of celebration for Qantas's 90th anniversary.

Meanwhile, Australian authorities have a plea for residents of Indonesia's Batam Island.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau, which is leading an international investigation into the blowout on the world's newest and largest airliner, appealed for help from Batam Island residents to find the missing chunk of a turbine disc.

The island was scattered with debris last Thursday when one of the A380`s four Trent 900 engines failed minutes into a flight to Sydney, with 466 people aboard. The engine was quickly shut down and the plane returned to Singapore and safely made an emergency landing.

"The recovery of that disk could be crucial to a full understanding of the nature of the engine failure, and may have implications for the prevention of future similar occurrences," the bureau said in a statement.

It released a photograph of a jagged and bent piece of turbine disc from the Trent 900 engine and asked that anyone who might have found a similar piece should hand it to police.

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce has blamed the blowout on a mechanical or design fault in the engine, not maintenance. Experts said the shattered turbine could indicate the failure point.

Qantas, Australia's national carrier, grounded its six double-decker A380s and began rigorous safety checks. Lufthansa and Singapore Airlines, the other airlines that fly A380s fitted with Trent 900 engines, also briefly grounded their planes last week but resumed services after completing checks.

As the hunt for clues went on, the bureau said that one piece of the shattered engine that had been found on Batam was being sent to Britain for examination by Rolls-Royce engineers, under the supervision of bureau investigators. Extra experts were being sent from Australia to Singapore to examine other debris.

Rolls-Royce Group PLC, a London-based aerospace, power systems and defence company separate from the car manufacturer, has said the investigation is in its early stages and that it is too early to draw any conclusions.

John Goglia, a former National Transportation Safety Board member and an expert on aircraft maintenance, said the photo showing the broken turbine disc indicates it was the disc that may have failed. The photo didn't show any signs of discoloration on the disc that would indicate overheating.

There are several reasons why a disc might fail, but they usually involve the metal used to make the disc or the manufacturing method, Goglia said. He cautioned that he was looking at one photo, which was not enough information to make a definitive judgment.

Meanwhile on Sunday, passengers on a Qantas Boeing 747-400 that had engine trouble a day after the A380 began arriving in Australia on alternative flights. The 747-400`s engine overheated six minutes after takeoff from Singapore and had to make an emergency landing.

"I could see from my seat the fire," said Amon Franz, a tourist from Austria who was one of several passengers who described seeing one of the plane's engines flame out. "Most people were crying around me ... and those seconds was a really hard experience for me."

Joyce, the Qantas executive, said the 747-400 incident was unrelated to the A380 event and was not as worrying.

The crew and captain of the stricken A380 were among those aboard the 747-400 that had the engine trouble Friday, the Sun Herald newspaper reported.

- AAP, AP