Looks like Emirates had to shut down an engine mid-flight.
Incident: Emirates A388 over Germany on Nov 18th 2010, engine shut down in flight
I am totally aware that these are different issues, but something like that on a certain carrier would have made the news for sure...
Yes, of course the media would go feral. Again.
Not much info out there on this shutdown. Curious that EK say it was a fuel pump issue...you would have to lose two pumps for that to happen, and even then the engine should operate at lower levels with gravity feed. Three engined flight will use about 15% more fuel than normal...wonder what the arrival fuel figure was?
There is a PPRuNe thread about EK changing an engine on an A380 in early 2009,that was apparently due to the engine having broken fan blades and dumping all it's oil.
I know that the engines are different to the RR Trents but it does sort of make me wonder whether there are any issues with hydraulic systems on the A380.
Emirates A380 - Engine Change - EGLL - Page 2 - PPRuNe Forums
Firstly, pprune is a very suspect source of information. Whilst there are some gems on there, they are surrounded by a sea of gibberish.
Having read the thread, I see no mention of hydraulic systems. Oil yes, but not hydraulic oil.
The A380 hydraulic system is quite different in concept to, for instance, the 747. In the case of the 747, there are four systems (but note that not all are involved in any particular operation). Each has an engine driven pump, and a demand pump. The demand pumps of 1 & 4 are electric, and those of 2 & 3 are air driven. You need either both pumps to fail, or to lose the hydraulic fluid to lose a system entirely. Loss of either pump has little effect. Flaps and slats have backup drive (one air driven, one electric). Landing gear will of course gravity extend, and only involves 1 & 4. Flight control surfaces are handled by all of the systems. The smaller jets, i.e. 767, have three systems.
The A380 on the other hand has only two systems, running at 5000 psi. These are driven by two mechanical pumps on each engine. So, if you lose an engine, you lose both of the pumps from that engine, but the system will still be pressurised by the two pumps on the other engine. Lose two engines on the same side, and you will also lose that hydraulic system. The use of these two systems is spread across the aircraft, with, for instance, individual control panels sometimes powered by one or the other, and sometimes both systems. Landing gear is split, with the nose and wing done by the G system (left), and the body gear by the Y system. So, on first glance, the A380 doesn't have the redundancy of the 747. But...there is another system. Basically, some of the actuators are electro/hydraulic systems (there are a couple of types, but the theory is the same). These are self contained systems that contain hydraulic fluid and pump, and will operate as long as they have electricity. I don't know the total number on the aircraft, but they are numerous. They are mostly involved in the flight controls, and the upshot is that even will the loss of both of the hydraulic systems, the pilot still has control of the aircraft. Flaps/slats will actuate electrically, and the landing gear will be extended by gravity.
I think many of your fellow passengers would share you view, hence why you were not interviewed by the media (they are only interested in the 'I feared I would die' type of passenger). The skills of the pilots and crew are only realised in a situation like this.
