Last Update: Thursday, November 9, 2006. 4:21pm (AEDT)
Crack in fuel line blamed for Qantas emergency landing
A cracked fuel line is being blamed for a mid-air emergency that forced a Qantas plane to make an unscheduled landing in Darwin in August.
The Boeing 747 was forced down after pilots saw fuel streaming from one of its four engines.
The plane was en route from Hong Kong to Melbourne with 261 people on board when the crew complained of smelling fuel in the cabin.
The pilot shut off the number three engine and flew to Darwin where he landed safely.
An Air Transport Safety Bureau report has found the leak came from a broken fuel manifold return line.
In the same week, two more broken fuel lines were reported on the same model engine, sparking a worldwide alert.
Qantas replaced the damaged fuel lines on the same day.
Now, what I'd like to know is what the bloody pilots were doing inside the cabin, in such a position as to see fuel "streaming from one of its engines", instead of on the flight deck where they belong?
