Stephen Fry stuck as Qantas A380 superjumbo forced to shut down engine

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Stephen Fry stuck as Qantas A380 superjumbo forced to shut down engine

Stephen Fry ... stuck in Dubai due to the Qantas A380's engine problem.

Stephen Fry ... stuck in Dubai due to the Qantas A380's engine problem.

Exactly one year after a Qantas A380's engine exploded over Indonesia, another superjumbo has been forced to divert due to engine trouble.

Actor and QI host Stephen Fry is among the passengers waiting to find out how they will complete their trip to London.

Fry posted a letter from the airline to his 3.3 million Twitter followers, in which Qantas apologised for the incident. However, the airline said it was having difficulty finding seats on alternative carriers for the passengers due to full planes, as well being unable to find hotel rooms for the passengers due to the Eid Al Adha public holiday in Dubai.

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Flight QF31 from Singapore to London was diverted to Dubai after an oil problem with one of its engines.

Pilots shut down the number four engine of the Airbus A380 about 90 minutes after takeoff, Qantas spokeswoman Olivia Wirth said.

"Engineers are assessing that particular engine," she said.

Fry facts ... the bad news for Qantas is that he has more than 3 million followers on Twitter.

Fry facts ... the bad news for Qantas is that he has more than 3 million followers on Twitter.

QF31 left Singapore at 12.32am local time (3.32am AEDT) on Friday on 14-hour flight to London.

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Four pilots, 21 cabin crew and 258 passengers were on board.

The aircraft landed safely in Dubai 4.45am local time without further incident, the airline said.

Not his day ... Fry reacts after leaving his wallet on the Qantas flight.

Not his day ... Fry reacts after leaving his wallet on the Qantas flight.

Fry tweeted shortly after landing to his Twitter followers: "Bugger. Forced to land in Dubai. An engine has decided not to play."

Fry later tweeted that crew had informed passengers that "the plane ... is going nowhere" and a plan for passengers was still being worked out.

"So either Sydney send another one out or they come to an accommodation with Emirates. Either way not a great week for #qantas," he tweeted, adding that staff were being "wonderful" and that passenger morale was high.

The engines of a Qantas A380.

The engines of a Qantas A380.Credit: Craig Abraham

Though Fry's morale may have taken a hit after he realised he'd left his wallet on the plane. "Hell's teeth this really isn't my day," he wrote.

Shortly after, Qantas's official Twitter account tweeted that staff had found Fry's wallet and it was returned to him.

Fry is returning to London after touring Australia with his TV program QI.

It is a year to the day that flight QF32 from London to Sydney was forced to turn back to Singapore after the A380's number two engine exploded, sending fragments of the turbine disc and other engine parts into the wing and fuselage.

The airline grounded all of its A380 jets for several weeks after the incident.

The problem was eventually found to have been caused by a leak from a flawed oil pipe.

None of the 433 passengers or 26 crew members was injured.

Qantas said the engine explosion and subsequent grounding of the fleet cost it an estimated $80 million.

Craig Platt with AAP

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