Probe into airline after three malfunctions
An AAP report says that OzJet is under investigation after equipment failures on its ageing aircraft, with safety investigators expected to report by the end of the month on three recent in-flight equipment failures aboard OzJet aircraft.
Passengers on an Ozjet flight on Saturday were told to don lifejackets and prepare for a possible crash-landing in the ocean after a wing malfunction over Norfolk Island.
The Brisbane-to-Norfolk Island Boeing 737 flight made two approaches before it was forced to abandon the landing in bad weather and divert to Noumea.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau is investigating that incident, as well as the discovery of a broken elevator balance tab on a Boeing 737-200 on a flight from Port Moresby to Brisbane on Monday.
“The investigations into the component failures will include extracting data from the black box flight recorders from both aircraft, interviewing aircraft crew and examining the aircraft components involved,” the bureau said. It expects to issue preliminary reports into the failures in 30 days.
The bureau said yesterday that OzJet had also reported a small smouldering fire in the galley area on a West Australian flight on Monday.
The Civil Aviation Safety Authority is also collecting information on the incidents, but is not proposing further action before evaluating the bureau’s reports.
The safety authority will continue to monitor OzJet’s operations but said there had been no significant issues raised during recent oversight of the company.
OzJet will fly between Palmerston North and Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne, replacing Air New Zealand’s budget arm Freedom Air, which is being closed.
OzJet will use a more modern 737-300 for the service.
In the meantime, OzJet wants to apply for an international airline licence and increase services to Bali.
The Melbourne-based company, which unsuccessfully tried to launch a business-class airline in 2005, has four older Boeing 737-200s based in Australia.
It has been operating a mixture of charter and regular public transport flights to destinations such as Norfolk Island, Papua New Guinea and Derby in Western Australia.
It began flying twice-weekly services between Perth and Denpasar in September under a commercial agreement with IndoJet Asia, and has applied to the International Air Services Commission for an extra 306 seats per week on the route.
OzJet said it wanted to apply for an international licence to operate the services to international airline standards.
“OzJet and IndoJet Asia wish to provide and improve accessibility to Bali, one of Australia’s favourite international holiday destinations, by providing seat capacity combined with accommodation in the form of packaged holidays to the broad consumer market in Western Australia,” the application said.
“Equally, the initiative serves to also promote and increase Australian inbound tourism.”
A Report by The Mole from AAP and other sources
John Alwyn-Jones
Vegas’s Billion-Dollar Secrets – What They Don’t Want Tourists to Know
Visit Florida’s New CEO Bryan Griffin Shares His Vision for State Tourism with Graham
Chicago’s Tourism Renaissance: Graham Interviews Kristin Reynolds of Choose Chicago
Graham Talks with Cassandra McCauley of MMGY NextFactor About the Latest Industry Research
Destination International’s Andreas Weissenborn: Research, Advocacy, and Destination Impact
Graham and Don Welsh Discuss the Success of Destinations International’s Annual Conference
Graham and CEO Andre Kiwitz on Ventura Travel’s UK Move and Recruitment for the Role
Brett Laiken and Graham Discuss Florida’s Tourism Momentum and Global Appeal
Graham and Elliot Ferguson on Positioning DC as a Cultural and Inclusive Global Destination
Graham Talks to Fraser Last About His England-to-Ireland Trek for Mental Health Awareness
Kathy Nelson Tells Graham About the Honour of Hosting the World Cup and Kansas City’s Future
Graham McKenzie on Sir Richie Richardson’s Dual Passion for Golf and His Homeland, Antigua
ADS PRO 
TAP Air Portugal to operate 29 flights due to strike on December 11
Qatar Airways offers flexible payment options for European travellers
Airlines suspend Madagascar services following unrest and army revolt
Strike action set to cause travel chaos at Brussels airports
Digital Travel Reporter of the Mirror totally seduced by HotelPlanner AI Travel Agent