What happened
On November 11, 2012, an Airbus A380-861, registration A6-EDA, was climbing out of Sydney Airport (SYD) en route to Dubai, UAE, when the crew observed abnormal indications regarding the number 3 engine. This was followed by an automatic shutdown of the engine. Following the shutdown, the crew performed a fuel dump and executed an air turnback to Sydney. There were no injuries and no damage to the aircraft.
The investigation
An inspection of the Engine Alliance GP7270 engine (serial number 550121) was conducted. A borescope inspection identified a failure of a 2nd stage high pressure turbine (HPT) nozzle, along with small holes and tears found on the HPT case. Investigators noted that no debris from the failure penetrated the engine nacelle.