After what Australian airline Qantas calls a “significant engine failure” during a flight from Singapore to Sydney, both it and Singapore Airlines have temporarily grounded their fleets of Airbus A380 jumbo jets.

The Qantas flight had just taken off from Changi Airport in Singapore when the front inner left engine reportedly exploded over the Indonesian island of Batam.

“I just heard this massive bang, like a shotgun going off,” one passenger told the media afterward. “Part of the skin had peeled off and you could see the foam underneath, pieces of broken wires sticking out.”

The plane landed safely back at Changi, where it was greeted by six fire engines. None of the 459 passengers on the plane were seriously injured, says Qantas, which has never had a fatal in-air accident.

Meanwhile, both Qantas and SIngapore Airlines have grounded their A380s pending safety checks recommended by both Airbus and Rolls-Royce, which makes the engines for the jets.

Two airlines ground A380s after emergency landing [Reuters]

Qantas grounds A380s after engine blast [The Australian]

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