Singapore Airlines resumes A380 flights after scare

Singapore Airlines has resumed flights on its Airbus A380 aircraft - which were grounded after one of the planes operated by Australia's Qantas Airways had to make an emergency landing.

One of the jet engines failed after take-off from Singapore. Engine maker Rolls-Royce has recommended checks.

After completing the checks, Singapore Airlines said it had cleared all its 11 A380 aircraft for service.

Qantas has grounded its six A380 jets pending investigations.

Rolls-Royce said it was checking all the A380 planes in service - with Qantas, Singapore and Lufthansa - that use its Trent 900 engines. It said "the safe operation of our products is our number-one priority".

The other A380 superjumbos in service - with Air France and Emirates - use another engine.

The incident involving the Qantas plane occurred on Thursday, when flight QF32, with 433 passengers and 26 crew on board, experienced an engine failure over western Indonesia shortly after taking off.

"We do take our safety reputation and our safety standards unbelievably seriously," Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce said at a news conference.

"And we're not going to take any risks with passenger safety - and as a precaution, we're suspending the flights of the A380 aircraft until we're comfortable that we understand the reasons for this."

No-one was injured during the incident, which ended when the plane returned safely to Singapore's Changi airport.

One of the four engines was blackened and its rear casing was missing.

A team of air crash investigators is being sent to Singapore from France, where Airbus is based, to assist in the investigation.