Hear Qantas is quite upset, do not blame them:
passenger jet flew from Manila to Australia without emergency oxygen because it had been sealed off by Philippines maintenance workers.
A leaked maintenance report on the Airbus seen by the Herald Sun and dated March 11 says: "On investergation (sic) found crew oxy bottle shutoff valve in the closed position and lockwired."
The report notes the valve was opened to the flow position by engineering staff at Sydney's Mascot airport.
Angry pilots and maintenance engineers compared the problem with the situation Prime Minister John Howard confronted in a smoke-filled RAAF Hercules in Iraq at the weekend.
"If there had been smoke in the (Qantas) aircraft, the crew would have needed that oxygen," said Capt Mike Glynn, acting president of the Australian International Pilots Association and a qualified A330 pilot.
"This oxygen is meant to be provided to flight crew during an emergency."
Capt Glynn said if the problem was missed in a pre-flight check, it could have led to "potentially dire circumstances".
More:
http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegrap...37-462,00.html