In its latest update on the investigation into what caused the engine on an Airbus A380 belonging to Qantas to explode on 4 November, Airbus has said debris which was ejected from the faulty engine managed to cut through several cables housed in the superjumbo’s wing.

The incident happened as the Qantas flight left Singapore for Sydney. The pilots managed to circle back to Changi Airport after dumping fuel over the ocean and land the jet safely. All 459 people on board the plane were unharmed. However, on landing the pilots could not immediately shut down one of the three other Rolls-Royce engines because of the damage caused to the wing.

Richard Woodward, Australian and International Pilots Association VP, said he had managed to conduct interviews with the five pilots who were on the Qantas Airbus. He said that following the engine failure the airliner’s computer flashed up a staggering 54 warning messages. Woodward added that this amount of warnings was unprecedented.

Rolls-Royce has said that the problem in its Trent 900 can be narrowed down to a single faulty component. This led to an oil fire which in turn meant pressure in the turbine was lost. It has since sent guidelines to all other airlines flying Airbus A380s with the Trent 900 engine.

Qantas said this week that it believed a total of 40 A380s around the world will have to have their engines replaced. Lufthansa and Singapore Airlines both fly Airbus A380s with Rolls-Royce manufactured engines. Following the explosion Qantas immediately grounded its fleet of six.