Captain Richard Champion de Crespigny recounts how Qantas Flight 32 survived a November 4, 2010 engine explosion that sent nearly 400 pieces of shrapnel into the A380 and caused 21 system failures and about 650 severed wires. The disciplined five-person crew kept all 469 people safe by judging when to follow automated checklists and when to override them. De Crespigny warns that growing reliance on AI and automation can complicate crisis response, so pilots must retain manual skills and lifelong training. He views current AI as a tool, not a replacement, though autonomous aircraft may appear first in military and cargo roles.
How Qantas Flight 32 Survived a Midair Engine Explosion — Captain Warns AI Could Make Crises Harder
Captain Richard Champion de Crespigny recounts how Qantas Flight 32 survived a November 4, 2010 engine explosion that sent nearly 400 pieces of shrapnel into the A380 and caused 21 system failures and about 650 severed wires. The disciplined five-person crew kept all 469 people safe by judging when to follow automated checklists and when to override them. De Crespigny warns that growing reliance on AI and automation can complicate crisis response, so pilots must retain manual skills and lifelong training. He views current AI as a tool, not a replacement, though autonomous aircraft may appear first in military and cargo roles.
10:40 PM, 11/10/2025Technology
Qantas Flight 32: A near-disaster and a warning about automation
On November 4, 2010, Qantas Flight 32 departed Singapore under clear skies. Four minutes into the flight, the aircraft suffered a catastrophic engine event: two loud bangs, dozens of warning alerts, and what Captain Richard Champion de Crespigny later described as nearly 400 pieces of shrapnel striking the Airbus A380.
The five-person flight crew—led by de Crespigny, a former Royal Australian Air Force pilot—faced a cascade of failures: 21 system failures, roughly 120 checklists, about 650 severed wires, 50% network outages, and shrapnel damage to the wing. Despite the scale of the damage, all 469 people on board survived.
Why the crew survived
A later investigation traced the incident to a manufacturing defect in a small stub pipe inside the Rolls-Royce engine. But de Crespigny emphasizes that disciplined crew resource management and expert judgment made the difference. When the aircraft’s monitoring systems flooded the cockpit with automated checklists and warnings, the crew had to decide which procedures to follow, which to query, and which to ignore.
"Some of the checklists we did, no question. Some of the checklists we queried, and we still did it, but there are quite a few checklists that if we had completed them, it would've changed the outcome of the flight. So we ignored them," de Crespigny said.
For nearly two tense hours the crew circled over Singapore, methodically testing systems to determine what still worked before returning safely to Changi Airport. Their ability to recognise failing systems, isolate them, and revert to manual control was crucial.
Automation, AI, and the pilot's role
De Crespigny warns that growing automation and artificial intelligence can complicate crisis response because pilots may be less practiced at manual flying and system isolation. "Automation presents more problems for pilots, not less," he says, arguing that pilots must retain manual skills and a commitment to lifelong learning so they can step in when automated systems fail.
He believes current AI is a tool rather than a replacement: "AI, as it stands today, is not threatening pilots in the cockpit. AI is a tool, it's not a replacement." He does, however, foresee pilotless aircraft being used first by the military and for overwater cargo operations, and suggests that fully autonomous passenger flights could be technically possible only decades from now—if truly sentient AI ever emerges.
Aftermath and legacy
De Crespigny has written two bestselling books about the incident, hosts the FLY! podcast, and speaks internationally on resilience and decision-making. He retired from flying in 2020 but continues to urge the aviation community to treat automation as an aid, not a substitute, and to train so human judgment remains central in emergencies.
Source: Business Insider (original interview and reporting)