12 August 2008

Alarm bells for Qantas flight attendant

CHRISTCHURCH Ã¢â¬' It goes from bad to worse for Qantas.

After a series of mishaps involving its aircraft Ã¢â¬' and a spat with Malaysia over the quality of maintenance being carried out on Qantas planes in Kuala Lumpur, another embarrassing incident has sent the Qantas flak catchers into a spin.

Newspapers in Australia and New Zealand report that a Qantas flight attendant caused 200 hotel guests to be evacuated after smashing an alarm during a recent stopover in Queenstown.

The female flight attendant allegedly smashed an interior alarm point at the Crowne Plaza after a night out, causing a false alarm and forcing hotel guests into the street in the middle of the night.

A source told the New Zealand Herald that a male colleague reportedly refused a pilot's request to take a breath test, delaying their flight out of Queenstown.

Flight QF2783 was stranded on the tarmac until replacement crew could be flown from Christchurch.

Crowne Plaza general manager Brett Wilson told Queenstown's Mountain Scene newspaper, "Someone smashed one of the alarm call points after a big night out. We know exactly who it was and the guest has been charged $1500 for the (fire brigade) call-out fee and to fix the call point.

"It was a fairly big stuff-up by the guest and when she was asked why she did it she said she had no idea and she was upset and disappointed.Ã¢â¬~

The flight crew had to take the one-night stopover due to technical problems with their aircraft.

In a statement published by The Age, Qantas said an investigation into the incident was being carried out, confirming that two cabin crew members were stood down after an "incident" at the hotel.

"Flight QF2783 operating from Queenstown to Christchurch on 31 July was delayed due to a technical issue," the statement said.

"Crew were accommodated at a nearby hotel and scheduled to operate the flight next morning. Following an incident at the hotel, two cabin crew members were stood down.

Ã¢â¬ÅâœThe incident is being investigated. Replacement cabin crew subsequently operated this service."