Qantas crew praised after in-flight explosion

SYDNEY - Cabin crew kept passengers calm on the Sydney-bound flight from Singapore that was forced to turn back after an engine exploded.

Christopher Lee says there was an "anxious calm" on board the Qantas aircraft after the frightening event.

"The cabin crew were very good at keeping us all informed, but trying to keep us all calm as well," he told Fairfax Radio Network on Friday.

Fine-food retailer and former chef Simon Johnson, who was on board the flight, also praised captain Richard De Crespigny's handling of the situation.

He told the Sydney Morning Herald that Mr De Crespigny took the
time to update passengers about every five minutes.

"The captain was fantastic, as were the crew."

The 53-year-old pilot has 35 years of experience under his belt, virtually all of it with Qantas.

When the engine blew yesterday, he calmly addressed the passengers.

"I do apologise. I'm sure you are aware we have a technical issue with our No. 2 engine ... I'm sure you are aware we are not proceeding to Sydney at this stage ... The aircraft is flying safely at this stage
... Thank you for your patience."

His wife Coral said her husband loved his job and knew the A380 inside out.

"He is just an extraordinarily intelligent, calm, experienced pilot," she told the Herald Sun.

"He loves the A380 - there could not have been a better person to be in
that seat looking after those passengers. They were lucky to have him
there."

Passenger Neil Shepherd, who was sitting behind the wing, told ChannelNewsAsia: "There was this loud thud, everybody was pretty shaken by it. The pilots really did calm everybody down."

And Mr Lee, who was travelling with his wife and seven-month-old daughter, said that soon after hearing two loud bangs, passengers by the window quickly alerted the cabin crew to smoke and flames coming out of one of the four engines.

"So the word got around very quickly as to what the problem was," he said.

"Part of the engine had come away and torn through the left wing and pierced the wing itself.

"I wasn't sitting near the window, so I have absolutely no idea what it was that caused the shake, in fact I thought we had hit a very big flock of birds, but it seemed a little bit too hard for that, so I was certainly concerned about what it was," he said.

"It's not good when you're at any altitude and you look out and see there's a hole in your wing."

Mr Lee said Mr De Crespigny was quick to jump in and explain the situation.

"Because it was soon after take-off, everyone was forced to be seated because the seatbelt light was still on.

"The captain was very quick to explain the situation and also to explain the standard procedure that he would go through in identifying and isolating and dealing with the issue.

"This meant that we were in a holding pattern for one hour as the captain and co-pilot went through their standard operating procedure," he said.

Mr Lee described the passengers on board as having "a level of astonishment".

"The voiceover welcomed us to Singapore when we landed and announced the time as per usual, so that was a very nice way to touch down," he said.

"I will say it was one of the smoothest touch downs I have had, especially when you consider that we landed, some say, without brakes or hydraulics," he added.

Mr Lee also praised the Qantas crisis management centre and would be on a specially chartered Qantas flight out of Singapore later today.

Channel NewsAsia reported that passengers were ushered to a holding area after and given food and drinks, as well as a briefing by the pilot.

The aircraft had logged around 8,165 flight hours.

Meanwhile, Rolls-Royce has recommended that "basic precautionary checks" be carried out on its Trent 900 engines - four of which were powering the plane.

"Since Qantas QF32 suffered an engine failure and returned safely to Singapore Changi Airport, we have been working closely with our customer and the authorities," the company said in a statement.

"The in-service fleet of Trent 900 engines is small and relatively new, and the group feels that it is prudent to recommend that a number of basic precautionary engine checks are performed. This process is now underway."

- AAP, NZHERALD STAFF