Thankfully, the aircraft was able to divert to Goose Bay, Canada, where it landed safely. With just these two notable incidents in almost 15 years of commercial service, and no fatalities or hull-loss accidents against its name, the A380 is a beacon of modern aviation reliability.
As of December 2021, the global A380 fleet had completed more than 800,000 flights over 7.3 million block hours with no fatalities and no hull losses. As of December 2022, there were 237 aircraft in service with 16 operators worldwide.
Therefore, the ERJ135/140/145 members of the family are among the safest airliners in history. The Airbus A340 is also one of the safest, with no fatal accidents involving any of the 380 units since its introduction in March 1993.
The Airbus A380 has sprung back into life as travel demand recovers following the sudden halt caused by the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. Many airlines grounded their fleets in March 2020, with the A380 superjumbo, the world's largest passenger plane, the first given its passenger volume and high running costs.
Airbus stopped A380 production in 2021, as there weren't sufficient orders to keep production going.
The four airports equipped to handle the A380s are in New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad. The ban on A380s was mainly due to concerns that foreign carriers may further hurt state-run Air India by grabbing a larger share of international traffic.
Airbus estimates that their A320 series aircraft have a lifespan of around 60,000 flight hours or 24,000 flight cycles. The A380 series aircraft have a lifespan of around 25 years or 60,000 flight hours.
Because the A380 is so large and heavy, you'll get a very smooth ride without feeling much turbulence. This may sound as a paradox since – compared to smaller planes – the A380 will more frequently encounter turbulent air because of its sheer size, increased surface area, and larger wings.
The real problem with the A380-900 plan was not that the stretch was never built, it was that it made the -800 a much worse version. “The fact that from the very beginning they built weight into the airplane so they could do the -900 was a program mistake,” Leahy points out.
The arrival of the A380 in 2007 was poorly timed. The price of jet fuel had begun to creep up, and by 2007 was floating at around $4 a gallon. This made airlines shy away from the expensive to operate four engine jets of the 80s and 90s, and to look instead to fuel efficiency as a major deciding factor.
Which airplanes crash the most? Cessnas and Pipers. In fact, the top 15 aircraft models in total crashes are all made by those two manufacturers – and nine of the top ten are Cessnas. The Cessna 152 was involved in nearly 800 more crashes than any other aircraft.
Do pilots prefer Boeing or Airbus? Pilots will always differ in opinion. The general feeling is that Airbus aircraft on the narrowbodies (A320 etc) are slightly more comfortable in terms of space in the flight deck than a 737 for example.
On the 4th of November 2010, the Qantas Airbus A380-800 with registration VH-OQA was operating Flight QF32 from London Heathrow to Sydney with a stop in Singapore. However, while heading towards Sydney from Singapore, the A380 suffered an uncontained failure with the number two engine emitting a loud bang.
It was one of about 14 fatal crashes involving Qantas aircraft between 1927 and 1951. Since the jet age began in 1959, Qantas has recorded no fatalities. Due to the war, urban development and the passage of time, the crash site in what is now koala habitat was eventually forgotten.
On 4 November 2010, the aircraft operating the route, an Airbus A380, suffered an uncontained failure in one of its four Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines. The failure occurred over the Riau Islands, Indonesia, four minutes after takeoff from Singapore Changi Airport.
According to the Aviation Safety Network, the superjumbo was well-loaded, with a grand total of 440 passengers and 29 crew onboard. Four minutes into the flight, the A380 suffered an uncontained engine failure. Shrapnel from the number 2 engine punctured part of the wing, damaging the fuel system and causing leaks.
The Middle Eastern giant
The obvious answer for the largest A380 fleet is Dubai-based Emirates. The airline has a total of 121 superjumbos, including the last one ever to be built.
The amortization of the original investment was not considered in this equation. Based on this information, we can assume that the Airbus A380 program never turned a profit when we consider the huge investment the aircraft manufacturer made to start the program.
A1: The Airbus A380 has an excellent safety record and is considered one of the safest aircraft in the world. Since its introduction in 2007, there have been no fatal accidents involving the aircraft.
For the bigger Airbus A380, the pilot rest is located above the cockpit door on the lower deck, but before where the second level cabin begins.
The A380 is extremely powerful as well. We use the Engine Alliance GP7200 engines, and it's got a tremendous power to weight ratio – even at max take-off weight at 572 tonnes it's got lots of get up and go. Everyone that flies it really enjoys it.
Fuel Capacity
Fuel tanks of large planes, such the Airbus A380 and Boeing 747-800, can hold up to 140,000 and 216,000 liters of gasoline, respectively. These aircraft are able to nonstop flight for as much as 16 to 18 hours, achieving as much as 15,000 kilometers.
Airbus produced and delivered 251 A380s, and 238 remain available for service today, with the rest having been retired or scrapped. The plane, which is no longer in production, is popular with passengers and crews but not with airlines – only 14 have operated it to date.