With substantial faults - an engine down, a punctured wing, a malfunctioning fuel system, various leaks - combined with no verbal communication from air traffic controllers, the pilots desperately sought to land the damaged plane. There was no margin for error. If that wasn't bad enough the auto-brake system had also malfunctioned. "Brake! Brake!", Hicks called. "I am!", replied captain Richard De Crespigny. De Crespigny has the brakes to the floor as the plane screams down the runway. It stops just a hundred metres short of the end. But the ordeal didn't end there.
Having miraculously landed the plane at Changi airport, the pilots encountered yet more dangers. With "fuel streaming from the wing" and tyres reaching exceptionally high temperatures from maximum braking, the risk of explosion was high, hindering the evacuation process: "one spark and we were cinders".
In the wake of the accident Qantas grounded their A380 fleet. They had never seen so many problems and of such a severity occur in the same plane at the same time. In the days that followed the accident a rigorous examination of Flight 32 revealed that a misaligned part had led to a "fatigue fracture" within the stub oil pipe, causing projectile to fly out of the engine, damaging the rest of the aircraft. For Qantas the nature of the fault absolved them of responsibility for the crash and laid it at the feet of another industry giant: Rolls-Royce.
As designers, manufacturers and maintainers of the engine, it was Rolls-Royce's responsibility to make sure that any weaknesses were found. Worse still, they were aware of the weakness and had been replacing other suspect engines for months. Yet they have refused to comment, raising concerns over the possible manufacturer of the next generation of super passenger carriers. "For the future of the business you need openness or people will just get killed". For the passengers of QF 32 it was a close call; the next generation of passengers may not be so lucky.
