Qantas A380 superjumbo jet from Singapore damages tires on landing in Sydney

Qantas superjumbo damages tires on Sydney landing

CANBERRA, Australia — A Qantas A380 superjumbo jet damaged two tires on landing in Sydney after a flight from Singapore, a spokeswoman said on Thursday.

The 244 people aboard were taken by bus to the terminal because the plane could not taxi from the runway, the Qantas spokeswoman said on condition of anonymity due to company policy.

Two dual tires under the left wing were “damaged” on landing Wednesday night, she said without elaborating. Some media reports said the tires exploded.

The airliner was one of six A380s that Qantas has put in service since 2008, she said.

Qantas had never before had such a problem with A380 and engineers had yet to determine the cause, the spokeswoman said.

The airliner was cleared from the runway early Thursday and had yet to be returned to service, she said.

The fault comes a day after a Qantas 747 jumbo with 414 people aboard bound for Singapore was forced to turn back to Sydney 45 minutes after takeoff on Tuesday evening because of an engine problem.

It landed safely after dumping fuel, and about four hours later passengers were put on another flight to Singapore.