A Boeing 747-400 operated by Qantas has been forced to make an emergency landing in Singapore – the second aircraft from the carrier to do so in two days.

The aircraft – on route to Sydney - turned back shortly after take-off from Changi Airport, airline officials said.

The landing follows an incident yesterday which saw a Qantas Airbus A380 forced to make an emergency landing at the same airport after one of its engines exploded.

Qantas grounded its six-strong fleet of A380s and an investigation is under way into what caused the blow-out.

The latest incident affected Sydney-bound flight QF6, which was carrying more than 400 passengers.

“Shortly after take-off the captain experienced an issue with one of its engines,” a Qantas spokeswoman said.

The plane managed to land safely, she said.

Airbus A380

Earlier, Qantas said the engine failure on its flagship A380 may have been caused by a design fault in its Rolls Royce engines.

Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce said the problem was “most likely a material failure or some type of design issue,” with the Rolls Royce engine, he said.

Rolls-Royce, the British firm which makes the Trent 900 engine involved, said it was checking all the A380s in service.

The engine blew up over western Indonesia, sending debris falling on to the island of Batam and leaving a trail of smoke.

Passengers were put on a relief flight to Australia early on Friday.