Second Qantas jet forced to land after engine trouble

A second Qantas jet in Singapore has been forced to land because of engine trouble.

The Boeing 747, with 431 people on board, reported problems shortly after take-off from Changi airport.

Yesterday a Qantas Airbus A380 had to make an emergency landing at the airport after one of its engines exploded.

The problem on the Boeing was not said to be serious, but the airline said the captain had asked for priority clearance at Changi as a precaution. There were 412 passengers, three flight crew and 16 cabin crew on the Frankfurt-Sydney flight, which will take off again later today.

Today the pilot of the Airbus was praised for his ability in landing the stricken jet.

Richard Champion de Crespigny's wife Coral said she expected nothing less from him.

"He is amazing, I absolutely adore him," Mrs Champion de Crespigny said. "He is so competent — those passengers are very lucky he was up the front."

With 35 years' flying experience, he was well equipped to handle the crisis, his wife said.

"He is in the simulator every three to four months doing things like engine explosions," she said. "He is an extraordinarily intelligent, calm, experienced pilot — it does not surprise me at all that he remained cool."

Mr Champion de Crespigny is expected to remain in Singapore for a few days to help aviation specialists with their investigation. An engine blew up over Indonesia but he managed to return to Singapore's Changi airport.

The 53-year-old from Sydney, a father of two adult children, joined the air force when he was 17 and Qantas in 1986.

Yesterday the stricken flight's passengers boarded new flights for Australia and praised the pilot for staying on to answer their questions.

"He took questions for about 20 minutes," said Sydney lawyer Mick Hunter. "He was fantastic. He gave us his mobile number and said call me if you have any issues."