Rolls Royce has isolated a single component it believes is responsible for problems with its Trent 900 engine.

Engine failure on a Trent 900 was responsible for an emergency landing by A380 Qantas flight QF32 on November 4th in Singapore, with the British manufacturer launching an investigation.

Following the incident, Lufthansa and Singapore Airlines both grounded their fleet of Airbus A380 aircraft.

Engine checks were subsequently introduced on the Trent 900s as Rolls Royce sought to understand the cause and to ensure safe operation.

These have been conducted in parallel with a rigorous examination of all available evidence, including data from the damaged engine and its monitoring system, analysis of recovered material and interrogation of the fleet history.

Investigations have led Rolls-Royce to draw two key conclusions.

“First, as previously announced, the issue is specific to the Trent 900. Second, the failure was confined to a specific component in the turbine area of the engine,” said Rolls Royce today.

“This caused an oil fire, which led to the release of the intermediate pressure turbine disc.”

Rolls Royce said the measures, undertaken in collaboration with Airbus, Trent 900 customers and regulators had led to some reduction in aircraft availability.

However, the investigation will enable Rolls Royce customers to progressively bring the whole fleet back into service, the company said today.

Profit Margin

The Rolls Royce statement helped allay investors’ concerns, with shares in the company rising by more than two per cent in early trade.

Shares had fallen by as much as ten per cent in the aftermath of the Qantas incident.