Australian regulator announces special investigation into Qantas
SYDNEY (AFP) — Australian civil aviation officials on Sunday announced an unprecedented special review of Qantas after three mid-air dramas in the space of two weeks threatened to tarnish its safety record.
The investigation by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) came as flight attendants asked top company officials for a special meeting and assurances that Qantas planes were safe.
Qantas prides itself on its extremely good safety record, having never lost a jet plane to an accident, but recent incidents including a mid-air blast that ripped a large hole in the fuselage have dented its image.
CASA spokesman Peter Gibson said to his knowledge the review was unprecedented. A senior authority official, Mick Quinn, would head the inquiry, which would take about two weeks, Gibson said.
"We want to look at their safety systems to make sure that the systems are operating the way they should," Gibson told AFP. "All these things are stated in manuals. We want to make sure that what is in the manuals is being done."
Gibson said recent audits of Qantas procedures had not shown up any problems, but following the latest incident on Saturday, the authority felt it was "prudent" to make extra checks.
Qantas said it had no issue with the review and planned to cooperate with it, adding its standards remained high.
"Our operations are first class and are continually subject to the scrutiny of Australian and overseas regulators as well as our own internal audits," the airline's head of engineering, David Cox, said in a statement.
"We have no issue with this latest review and CASA says it has no evidence to suggest that safety standards at Qantas have fallen. We agree and are totally confident these checks will confirm the integrity of our engineering and maintenance operations and our commitment to safety."
On Saturday a Qantas Boeing 767 bound for Manila was forced to turn back to Sydney after developing a leak of hydraulic fluid while in the air. It followed two other safety scares.
On July 25, a Qantas Boeing 747-400 en route to Melbourne from Hong Kong made an emergency landing in Manila after a blast believed to have been caused by an exploding oxygen cylinder ripped a large hole in its fuselage.
And last Monday, a Qantas 737-800 was forced to return to Adelaide after a landing gear door failed to retract.
Qantas banks heavily on its image as the world's safest airline. In the movie "Rain Man", it was famously cited by the autistic central character played by Dustin Hoffman as the only airline he was prepared to travel on.
However, the latest incidents have left even Qantas' own staff concerned about its record. Flight attendants made a special request at the weekend to meet senior management to discuss the problems.
"We want some assurances from the company that these are isolated incidents," said Steven Reed, president of the Flight Attendants' Association of Australia. "Or are they something we should be concerned about?
"We need to meet with the company at a senior level to have these assurances."
A Qantas spokesman said he expected a meeting would be held within the next week.
In recent years, Qantas has gone through major changes with the launch of a low-cost subsidiary, Jetstar, which is in the process of expanding into Asia. Jetstar's chief executive Alan Joyce was recently named as the new chief executive of Qantas, to replace Geoff Dixon.
Engineers have criticised the airline's increased outsourcing of maintenance to centres overseas, including in Hong Kong, Malaysia and the Philippines.
One engineering union official told AFP that in one incident involving outsourcing, flight attendants received electric shocks in a galley due to faulty wiring, and on another occasion emergency lighting failed to work properly.
Wayne Vasta, assistant federal secretary of the Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers' Association, said it would be wrong to blame outsourcing for every problem, but that there had been a "change in culture" within the company over the last five years.
Demands from management for cost-cutting were the driving factor, he said.
Qantas engineers in the past had simply been driven by the need to do the best job they possibly could, Vasta said.
"Now it appears we have got to do the best job we can possibly do, within a budget," he said, welcoming the CASA's investigation.
The Australian Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) has announced it will take the unprecedented step of conducting a special review of flag carrier Qantas after three separate emergencies in two weeks.

In the latest incident, a Boeing 767 headed from Sydney to Manila was forced to turn back yesterday after ground staff at the airport noticed what they believed to be smoke emanating from the jet's wing as it departed. It turned out to be fine spray from a hydraulic fluid leak, and the aircraft brought its 200 passengers back down safely at around 3:00 p.m., with ARFF trucks on standby.

Despite the aircraft being forced to turn around, the pilot did not request a priority landing and so Qantas refused to describe the event as an emergency landing.

Qantas has a largely good safety record, having never lost a jet aircraft or had a fatality on board one. Their last fatal accident was in 1951. However, recently two other events have led to some questioning of Qantas from within the aviation industry.

Last Monday, a Qantas Boeing 737-800 returned to Adelaide after experiencing pressurization problems caused by the failure of an undercarriage door to retract properly. This followed the July 25 accident on board Flight 30, a Boeing 747 headed from London to Melbourne that had just made a stopover in Hong Kong, in which an exploding oxygen cylinder caused an explosive decompression. An emergency landing was performed in Manila, with a hole blown in the aircraft's side.

According to Qantas staff, the problems are not a new thing. Qantas flight attendants have asked senior management for an emergency meeting over these latest events. The Flight Attendants' Association of Australia's president Steven Reed said "We want some assurances from the company that these are isolated incidents. Or are they something we should be concerned about? We need to meet with the company at a senior level to have these assurances." Such a meeting is said to be likely within a week.

Qantas engineers have been complaining for some time about maintenance issues, saying that cost-cutting and outsourcing are compromising the quality of maintenance. Much work is now being done in countries such as Hong Kong, Malaysia and the Philippines. According to one engineering union official, recent incidents linked to outsourced maintenance include a failure of emergency lighting and flight attendants in the galley being electrocuted by faulty wiring.

According to the Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers' Association's assistant federal secretary, Wayne Vasta, there has been a recent "change in culture" at Qantas, although he did say it would be inappropriate to blame only outsourcing. He said that while previously Qantas engineers had simply attempted to do the best they could, "Now it appears we have got to do the best job we can possibly do, within a budget." He also expressed a welcoming of the CASA probe.

Qantas' engineers are currently lobbying for a pay rise, and say the airline is risking safety with cost cuts.

Peter Gibson, spokesperson for CASA, said no trouble had been spotted in recent safety audits of Qantas, but they felt it 'prudent' to investigate given the recent string of incidents. He acknowledged that the review is unprecedented in CASA's history, and announced the probe would be headed by senior official Mick Quinn.

"We want to look at their safety systems to make sure that the systems are operating the way they should. All these things are stated in manuals. We want to make sure that what is in the manuals is being done," Gibson told reporters. He said the investigation should take around two weeks.