A Qantas plane flew nearly 300 hours with a loose tool inside one of its engines, an investigation has found.
The Airbus A380-842 operated multiple flights totaling 294 hours with the tool stuck in the outboard left engine after it was left there following scheduled maintenance in Los Angeles on December 6, 2023.
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| A Qantas Airbus A380 |
The incident came to light Thursday in an Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB)investigation report.
On December 6 the engine had a scheduled borescope inspection, and technicians accidentally left a 4-foot-long nylon tool in the outboard left engine's inlet. The tool is used to turn the engine’s intermediate‑pressure compressor. It had been left in the engine’s low-pressure compressor case.
There was no damage to the engine itself, but the tool had been bent out of shape by 'high energy airflow,' the Australian Transport Safety Bureau said.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) reports the 1.25m-long nylon tool was found wedged against the low-pressure outlet guide vanes (components of the turbine). It was discovered during a scheduled maintenance check in Los Angeles on January 1 this year.
The ATSB report added that before the tool was located during the scheduled maintenance in LA, the A380 jet had flown 34 cycles, or 294 hours in the 26 days with the nylon tool in the engine.
The investigation said that an engineer left the tool in the engine inlet because they believed it would be needed by somebody else later. Subsequent inspections after their task failed to spot the tool. It was not located by workers during the usual foreign object inspection at the end of the three-day maintenance period in December.
It remained there during 34 flights, including passenger flights between LAX airport and Melbourne.
"The ATSB investigation found that maintenance engineers did not notice the tool had been left in the engine's low-pressure compressor case when conducting checks for foreign objects at the completion of the borescope inspection task," ATSB Chief Commissioner Angus Mitchell said.
"Further, maintenance engineers did not commence the lost tool procedure once the tool had been identified as missing, and the certifying engineer released the aircraft for service with the tool unaccounted for."
The ATSB said Qantas engineering staff were briefed on the importance of ensuring all tools are returned and accounted for after maintenance periods.
The airline also completed an internal investigation which resulted in fresh requirements regarding tool control.
Mitchell said foreign debris inside engines can pose a major safety risk to flights.
"Which is why regulations, procedures and training are in place to limit the risk of foreign object damage, especially from introduced objects during maintenance," he added.
"Correctly applying tool control is fundamental to mitigating against any human errors that may arise."
In its conclusion, the report said, "Foreign object debris and damage can pose a significant threat to the safe operation of aircraft."
After the tool was discovered, Qantas said it briefed engineering staff on the importance of returning all tools and issued an internal safety directive.
"We take this extremely seriously and while there was no damage sustained to the engine, it is critical that the correct lost tool processes are followed," an airline spokesperson said in a statement.
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