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Mark Baker/AP
Qantas Investigation Highlights Airline Safety Concerns
July 28, 2008 08:00 AM
by
Rachel Balik
As authorities begin investigation into a recent explosion on a Qantas jet, concerns about thorough safety inspections are raised.
30-Second Summary
Officials will begin a comprehensive investigation to determine what caused the loud noise and ensuing hole in the side of a Qantas 747 jet. Although reports claim that engineers discovered a large amount of corrosion in the jet earlier this year, authorities have ruled out corrosion as a possible cause and believe the hole was created by some kind of explosion.
A missing oxygen tank on board the jet leads authorities to believe it may have exploded during flight, but the explosion is not thought to be the result of terrorism. “This is being treated as a safety investigation,” an investigator from the Australian Transport and Safety Bureau said.
Although no one on board was injured, oxygen masks did not come down for many of the passengers, raising concerns about the airline’s safety inspections. One passenger reported that the man in front of him had to forcefully break open the ceiling panel in order to get his oxygen mask, and that many children did not have one. "Their cheeks and lips were turning blue from lack of oxygen,” he said.
Meanwhile, senior Qantas employees have expressed fears that lower safety standards are to blame. In order to cut costs, plane maintenance checks have been outsourced to Malaysia. “Qantas outsourcing maintenance to Malaysia is certainly worrying a lot of us pilots. There has been aircraft come back with dodgy staples to secure wiring,” a senior Qantas pilot said.
A missing oxygen tank on board the jet leads authorities to believe it may have exploded during flight, but the explosion is not thought to be the result of terrorism. “This is being treated as a safety investigation,” an investigator from the Australian Transport and Safety Bureau said.
Although no one on board was injured, oxygen masks did not come down for many of the passengers, raising concerns about the airline’s safety inspections. One passenger reported that the man in front of him had to forcefully break open the ceiling panel in order to get his oxygen mask, and that many children did not have one. "Their cheeks and lips were turning blue from lack of oxygen,” he said.
Meanwhile, senior Qantas employees have expressed fears that lower safety standards are to blame. In order to cut costs, plane maintenance checks have been outsourced to Malaysia. “Qantas outsourcing maintenance to Malaysia is certainly worrying a lot of us pilots. There has been aircraft come back with dodgy staples to secure wiring,” a senior Qantas pilot said.
Headline Links: ‘Qantas jumbo investigation continues’
Officials have ruled out corrosion as a possible cause for the hole in the Qantas 747 jet that caused an emergency landing on July 25. The more likely cause of the loud bang and hole is some sort of explosion. Authorities are investigating the jet and will release a full preliminary report within 30 days. The plane was inspected in 2004, 2006 and earlier this year.
Source: Business Spectator
Officials are now focusing on a missing oxygen cylinder as the possible cause of the explosion. Oxygen cylinders stored near the hole contained emergency oxygen for the flight crew. Emergency oxygen proved problematic for some passengers as well: though no one was injured during the event, some passengers reported that their oxygen masks failed to drop from the ceiling. As one passenger said, “Ours didn't come down, and my husband just about (passed out) because he didn't have any oxygen for about three minutes.”
Source: Chicago Tribune
Background: Qantas jet forced into emergency landing
A hole measuring 2.5 to three meters in diameter and spanning both the cargo hold and the passenger area of a Qantas jet forced the aircraft into an emergency landing. The Australian aircraft was traveling from Hong Kong to Melbourne and landed in the Philippines. Passengers reported hearing a bang that one passenger said sounded "like a tire exploding, but more violently."
Source: CNN.com
Opinion & Analysis: Pilot blames outsourcing
A senior Qantas pilot has come forward to suggest that the hole in the 747 was the result of poor maintenance checks. Quantas outsources some of its maintenance to Malaysia as a way to cut costs. “It has been talked about a lot here and we have been told to be extra vigilant when you walk around the aircraft,” the pilot said. Although authorities believe the hole was the result of an explosion and not corrosion, the plane did suffer from corrosion earlier this year.
Source: LiveNews
Related Topic: Airlines accused of compromising safety to cut costs
In March, the FAA accused Southwest Airlines of flying airplanes without conducting the required fuselage inspections. The FAA said the airline did not examine planes for fatigue-related cracks, and then used the uninspected planes for almost 1,500 more flights, even after realizing the planes hadn’t been checked. All but $200,000 of the proposed $10.2 million penalty is connected with those later flights.
Source: findingDulcinea
Pilot fatigue is another issue at work in airline safety. Although the FAA recognizes that pilot fatigue is a concern, the organization has done little to limit the number of flight hours. Meanwhile, airlines want to avoid regulations that would decrease their revenues.
Source: findingDulcinea
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