QF1 Delayed departure out of Sydney 14th June

[Patrick Malseed]

Does anyone have any info on the reason for the 14 hour delay to QF1 yesterday evening?

[Ollie Menkens]

the A380 is a very unreliable aircraft and there must have being a massive problem or it could be chaos at Dubai airport with the runway works.

[Michael Arentz]

It's certainly more reliable than your wild speculations.

[Fred C]

Well it wasn't Dubai airport. It was maintenance related. Not really a massive problem but one that wouldn't allow it to fly.

[Mackenzie Davis]

the A380 is a very unreliable aircraft and there must have being a massive problem or it could be chaos at Dubai airport with the runway works.

It is a pretty reliable aircraft with a dispatch rate of nearly 99% for Emirates according to a FlightGlobal article which is 3 or 4 years old

[Patrick Malseed]

Hi Ollie,
Your reply can only be regarded as fanciful rather than factual.
Obviously you are not working in the aircraft industry.
Aircraft unfortunately do go "tech" from time to time. All aircraft not just A380's.
My initial question was what caused the delay. Maybe someone close to fleet support at Qantas knows why.

[Ollie Menkens]

sorry everyone but what i have read on the EK, Qf and other sources there have been some problems with the older builds i do know all aircraft have problems


sorry to you all A380 lovers out there

[David Knudsen]

Hi Ollie, can you provide a link to the articles you've read about early frames having reliability issues? I'd be interested to find out more about this.

[Ollie Menkens]

http://www.theqantassource.com/


here is the actual breakdown

QANTAS A380 VH-OQD arrived into Sydney as QF2 from London Heathrow and Dubai this morning, then turned around to operate yesterday’s delayed QF1 Sydney – Dubai – London Heathrow as QF1D.

[Zac M]

I don't see your point here Ollie, given the amount these things fly they are bound to break eventually, people at my work like to point out that the Q400s always break, but if you think about the fact they do up to 10 flights a day and they'll maybe break once a month I reckon thats pretty solid!

At the end of the day an aircraft is just a piece of machinery, it's bound to break eventually, the A380 is no different to the Q400, it's bound to break eventually and saying that it is unreliable just because they break from time to time is silly!

[Ollie Menkens]

Zac i agree with you

that seems fair enough all aircraft are have the pretty much the same chance of breaking down


i just do not like the A380 myself so yeh

[Patrick Malseed]

Hi Ollie,
Did not intend to come over harsh on you.
Have you flown on the A380? If not you might change your opinion. I have flown on Emirates, Singapore and Qantas airframes and it is a nice aircraft to travel on. Very quiet and very stable. Sure the aircraft has had an interesting life since launch what with the wing cleat issue and so on.
Regards

Patrick

[Ollie Menkens]

yes i have been on one before and i have flown the emirates a380 training simulator in dubai as well

[Ian Gains]

We all have favourite aircraft to look at, photograph & travel on but maybe just bear in mind if it wasn't for the 747 & now the A380, all passengers would be paying considerably more $ to enjoy the freedom to travel the way we can if we so wish.
Personally, with the world's population increasing the way it is; with more & more Chinese people having a higher disposable income; & with limited movements available at many of the worlds key airports, I see a big future for the A380. Yes, it will never be for all airlines, but for certain main trunk routes, it is the best 'tool' for the job.

[Fred C]

I am disappointed that no-one noticed that it did a test flight. QFA6007.

[Patrick Malseed]

I still haven't found out the reason why it went tech and another airframe had to be brought in to do the trip.
I noticed in the "source" that an airframe did a test flight but did not make the connection that it was the same bird.

[Sarah C]

QF12 diverted to BNE this morning with a 'fuel pump issue'. Aircraft was OQA. Was that the same one that caused issues on Saturday?

[Fred C]

Ok the reason why it went tech Patrick. There was a scheduled check of the RAT. The ground equipment that drives the RAT for the testing failed. No aircraft fault there. The aircraft then went for a test flight to check the RAT. A very unusual and expensive occurrence, but it enabled the aircraft to return to service sooner rather than waiting for another RAT tester.

It was OQA. It is the same aircraft that diverted to BNE but for a completely unrelated issue, it was a fuel pump issue as Sarah alluded to.

Does this satisfy your curiosity?

[Mick F]

Sounds like rumours with no data to back it up.

Aircraft break Ollie. Can't help that.

Mick

[Paul S.]

What !! there was a RAT on the plane, QANTAS need Samuel L Jackson not John Travolta

[Patrick Malseed]

Thanks Fred,
I am an ex aircraft engineer and it is good to keep up with what is going on in the industry.
Thank you for the info.
RATs. can't do without them! But pray you will never need to use it!

[Fred C]

Hi Patrick,

I am glad your curiosity has been satisfied. I am the same as you but with no ex!