Qantas plane flew with tool left in engine

QANTAS AIRBUS A380-842 VH-OQL (MSN 0074)

An investigation has revealed that a Qantas aircraft flew for nearly 300 hours with a loose tool in one of its engines. The Airbus A380-842 conducted multiple flights, accumulating 294 hours with the tool lodged in the outboard left engine, after maintenance in Los Angeles on the 6th of December 2023. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) discovered the 1.25-meter-long nylon tool wedged against the low-pressure outlet guide vanes on the 1st of January.

The tool remained undetected during the routine foreign object inspection following the three-day maintenance stint in December. It was present for 34 flights, including passenger services between LAX and Melbourne, before being found.

Although the tool was deformed, it did not damage the engine. "The ATSB investigation determined that maintenance engineers overlooked the tool in the engine's low-pressure compressor case during foreign object checks after the borescope inspection," stated ATSB Chief Commissioner Angus Mitchell. "Additionally, the engineers did not initiate the lost tool procedure once the tool was missing, and the certifying engineer cleared the aircraft for service without accounting for the tool."

Following the incident, Qantas engineering staff received briefings on the critical nature of tool retrieval post-maintenance. The airline also conducted an internal review, leading to new protocols for tool management. Mitchell emphasized the significant safety hazard that foreign objects, particularly those introduced during maintenance, pose to flight operations.