Qantas has launched preliminary legal action against Rolls-Royce, the manufacturer of the engine that exploded on one of its A380 superjumbos in mid-air last month.

THIRTY-SIX passengers and crew were injured, some seriously, in the mid-air drama that forced a Qantas jetliner to make an emergency landing, the Australian carrier and police said yesterday.

Part of an oxygen cylinder exploded through the floor of the passenger cabin of a Qantas jumbo jet last week, an air safety investigator said today.

A high-speed train derailed in eastern Australia, injuring more than 120 passengers as its carriages slammed into trees and ploughed through fields alongside the tracks.

US Airways Group, hit hard by a slump in travel after the September 11 terrorist attacks, filed for bankruptcy protection, the company said.