AVIATION expert Tom Ballantyne said that yesterday's troubles were "certainly the most serious incident that the A380 has experienced since it entered operations."

But "it's not like the aircraft is going to drop out of the sky," said Ballantyne, Sydney-based chief correspondent at Orient Aviation Magazine.

He said the engine shutdown couldn't have caused a crash. The planes are designed to fly on just two engines, and pilots are trained to handle engine failures.

Still, the incident is likely to raise safety questions about one of the world's most modern airliners, which has suffered a series of minor problems.

In September 2009, a Singapore Airlines A380 was forced to turn around in mid-flight and head back to Paris after an engine malfunction. On March 31, a Qantas A380 burst two tires on landing in Sydney after a flight from Singapore. Last August, a Lufthansa crew shut down an engine as a precaution before landing at Frankfurt on a flight from Japan, after receiving confusing information on a cockpit indicator.

Other issues with the A380s have all been relatively minor, such as electrical problems, Ballantyne said.