Qantas remains proud of its excellent safety reputation
Last Friday, Qantas welcomed the release by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) of its preliminary investigation report into the depressurisation incident and diversion to Manila of the B747-400 operating QF30 on 25 July 2008.
Qantas also announced the same day that it would grow its North American network with the commencement of expanded codeshare relationships with US carriers Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air. Guess what happens next….
Yep – two days later, a Qantas flight from Singapore to London is diverted to the German city of Frankfurt after experiencing a “vibration in an engine”, resulting in the engine being shut down.
Whilst the Mole recognises that yes, the Aussie Carrier is waiting for new planes, coping with industrial action and finding the readies to cover increased fuel costs, ….. We may still possibly have finally reached the point where the cabin crew can clearly now say to passengers “Its the Vibe!!” legitimately.
Closely followed of course by the Captain saying “Tell ’em they’re dreaming!”
Coming back to the depressurisation report, it states that “one of the aircraft’s 13 passenger oxygen system cylinders failed and that while the fuselage and some flight systems sustained damage, the aircraft continued to operate safely and landed in Manila without further incident”.
The Chief Executive Officer of Qantas, Mr Geoff Dixon, said the preliminary report was a factual account of the incident and investigation to date. “Our own investigations agree with the ATSB’s preliminary conclusions,” Mr Dixon said.
“We will continue to assist the ATSB to ensure that factors that may have contributed to the incident are understood and that any corrective actions ultimately identified are implemented.”
Mr Dixon said Qantas had completed an inspection of the oxygen systems across its B747-400 fleet on 1 August, which confirmed there were no safety issues.
He also said the B747-400 involved in the Manila accident was repairable at a cost of less than $10 million and would be back in service in November 2008.
“Preparations for these repairs are underway, with the work to be carried out in Manila by Lufthansa Technik in consultation with Boeing and Qantas engineers.”
Qantas may dislike the bad press, but the spotlight is well and truly on the airline and it is now more important than ever to stop the erosion of its hard-earned reputation and reach the required state of ‘Serenity’….
A Report By The Mole
John Alwyn-Jones
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