idm.net.au
Virgin Blue has forced itself into flying its planes within one hour of an airport during every journey in Australia because it has been unable to keep its aircraft maintenance records up-to-date.
The records management fiasco means the company cannot buy any new planes until it has incorporated a brand new records keeping system which can adequately test and guarantee the standards of every part of each plane.
This could prevent the company from being able to register five new 737s which are due for delivery from the U.S. in May.
Virgin Blue voluntarily approached The Civil Aviation Safety Authority in December and reported faults in its maintenance records of its 40 strong fleet.
CASA has been monitoring Virgin Blue safety checks ever since and has agreed with Virgin Blue that it needs to introduce a new system of collecting up-to-date and accurate records of each part of its Boeing 737 aircrafts, from the rotor blades on the engine to the bolts on the landing gear. Each plane has 367, 000 parts, and these all need to be accounted for.
CASA spokesman, Peter Gibson, explained the huge records management task faced by Virgin Blue. "Virgin Blue is in the process of making a major change to its maintenance control systems, which has put a hold on it expanding its fleet. We have done a risk audit on the existing planes and we are satisfied that they meet safety regulations, providing they fly within one hour of an airport everywhere in Australia. This only causes a maximum of 5 minutes extra travel to each flight.
"The problem is that Virgin has grown at a much faster rate than they expected. It thought it would expand by 20 planes in 10 years, instead of 40 in just four years. This has caused it problems with expanding its maintenance records keeping systems in tandem with the growth of the company, but now they are making huge efforts to tackle this problem and guarantee 100 percent safety for the future. The company is in the process of developing new software and systems with a greater capacity to collect and analyse data about all aircraft parts more efficiently. We have a good relationship with Virgin Blue and we are confident it can meet its goals in this area."
Virgin Blue insists that it has taken these precautionary actions to prevent it facing safety difficulties in the future, and not because there are any risks faced by passengers at the moment.
Couldn't find if this has been covered before. Gee I wish Ansett had a similar level of support from CASA! 