http://business.smh.com.au/passengers-stranded-by-a380-glitch/20080219-1sz9.html
Passengers stranded by A380 glitch
Scott Rochfort
February 19, 2008 - 1:25PM
Singapore Airlines has encountered its first major technical glitch with its four-month-old A380 super jumbo, which forced it to cancel a flight from Singapore to Sydney last night leaving 70 passengers stranded without a hotel room.
The airline has confirmed it was forced to ground the jet overnight due to a problem with a fuel pump.
"It was a difficult delay. A problem presented with a fuel pump, and this is the sort of problem that doesn't show till engine start-up,'' said the airline's head of corporate affairs Stephen Forshaw.
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But Mr Forshaw said the problem which does "occur from time to time with aircraft generally'' was exacerbated when a replacement pump did not solve the glitch.
Given the Singapore Air's second A380 was undergoing maintance, Mr Forshaw said the flight had to be replaced with a Boeing 747-400.
"Obviously, a 747-400 can't carry as many passengers as an A380, so we've had to transfer around 70 passengers to alternative flights today,'' he confirmed via an email.
According to Changi Airport's web site the 747 replacement flight left 9 hours late.
"We're very sorry for the inconvenience caused to customers by the long delay, and especially the nature of it, with a lack of certain departure time,'' said Mr Forshaw.
"Given the time of night, we explored transferring all customers to hotels till the defect was repaired, to allow them to get some rest.
"Unfortunately, with the Singapore Airshow on this week, there were not sufficient hotel rooms to be able to accommodate those affected,'' he said.
Mr Forshaw was the delay was ``most unfortunate'' given the high reliability of the world's largest passenger jet since its entry into service last October.
Last month, Airbus boast the A380 delivered to Singapore Air last October had been operating between Sydney and Singapore ``around 15 hours per day with a 100 per cent technical reliability''.
Singapore Air introduced its second A380 on the route in mid-January. Singapore Air's morning departure from Sydney only left 20 minutes late this morning, given the replacement 747 had enough seats to carry the ``booked load''.
The jet encountered its first mishap last month when it rolled off the tarmac onto a glass verge at Singapore's Changi Airport after coming lose from a tow truck.
hiphop2009
air stewardess kena slapped, now plane got problem.
two different kind of response from SIA.
If SIA was like SBST "Our bus captain (air steward/stewardess) has the right to work in safe envrionment like anyone else"