QF32 The Captain's Extraordinary Account of How One of the World's Worst Air Disasters Was Averted

By Richard de Crespigny

In 2010, what began as a routine long-haul flight from Singapore to Sydney came within a knife-edge of becoming one of the world's worst ever air disaster. When a sudden mid-air explosion shattered engine no. 2 of the Qantas A380 - the largest and most advanced passenger plane ever built - shrapnel ripped through the wing and fuselage creating chaos as it destroyed vital flight systems. In other hands, the plane might have been lost with all 466 people on board, but a supremely experienced flight crew, led by Captain Richard De Crespigny managed to safely land it after hours of nerve-wracking effort. This is the riveting, blow-by-blow story of QF 32, and how a mortally wounded plane was saved.