Aviation

20.2, aircraft grounded

Singapore: Singapore Airlines said an A380 flight had to be grounded due to a fuel pump defect, the first major technical glitch to ground the world’s largest passenger jet. The carrier said the problem was detected when the aircraft’s engine was started ahead of departure last night on a flight from Singapore to Sydney. The airline was forced to substitute a Boeing 747-400, which seats fewer people than the Airbus jet, because a replacement fuel pump failed to solve the problem. About 70 passengers from the 418 that had been due to fly on the A380 were bumped to other flights. Singapore Airline’s second A380 could not be used as it was undergoing maintenance. The problem was later fixed and the aircraft resumed its daily service to Sydney.