World

Qantas may sue Rolls-Royce over A380 engine

14:55 pm on 3 December 2010

Qantas is prepared to start legal action against Rolls-Royce over the fallout arising from the disintegration last month of an engine on one of its A380s.

The airline says it has started discussions with the engine-maker on a range of matters, including financial and operational impacts from the incident over Indonesia on 4 November.

The incident caused airlines around the world to ground their A380s while they investigated their Rolls-Royce engines.

The ABC reports Qantas has been granted a court injunction that will allow it to pursue legal action against Rolls-Royce in Australia under the Trade Practices Act if a settlement is not possible.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau on Thursday issued a safety warning about Airbus A380 Trent 900 engines, which are made by Rolls-Royce.

The bureau warned of a risk that some engines in Airbus A380s could catch fire.

It said there was a "potential manufacturing defect with an oil tube connection to the high-pressure/intermediate-pressure bearing structure" of the Trent 900 engines installed in some A380s.

Bureau chief commissioner Martin Dolan says the fault was identified in the past 24 hours and it is still not clear how many A380 engines are affected.