A bad couple of days in Mount Isa
From one of the pax trying to get home from the Isa to Brisbane on Thursday. First aircraft (717) went U/S with an inability to get one engine started so pax and crew forced to stay an additional night in Mount Isa and wait a full day for the next QF service on Good Friday. Pax nearly depart on that 737 when it is forced to reject the takeoff with a bat strike to the right wing leading edge causing “substantial” damage. QF to their credit dispatched another 737 from Brisbane arriving back at 2 AM today. The description of the extent of the damage came from one of the engineers sent to assess it. Nobody’s fault and situation well handled by the crew. The same might not be said for the ground staff who didn’t quite grasp the realities of being stranded without food, transport and accomodation on “Good” Friday.