Darwin heavy landing won't spoil perfect record (The Australian)
Steve Creedy | February 15, 2008
DUSTIN Hoffman's Rain Man can rest easy: Qantas will not have to write off a Boeing 717 involved in a heavy landing in Darwin last week.
The Qantaslink aircraft carrying 84 passengers from Gove was substantially damaged after it hit an area of "high sink" and dropped heavily on approach to Darwin on Thursday last week.
The heavy landing produced wrinkling in the aircraft's skin at the rear of the fuselage, suggesting possible damage to the airframe and prompting speculation that the plane was a write-off.
Although the leased aircraft was operated for Qantaslink by National Jet Systems, a write-off would have seen the first recorded jet airliner hull loss under Qantas colours.
A Qantas spokesman said last night the plane would not be written off, although estimates of the cost of repairs were still being done.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau and Civil Aviation Safety Authority have launched investigations into the accident.
CASA spokesman Peter Gibson said the authority was looking at the circumstances behind the landing.
He said there was no indication of anything untoward but said CASA wanted to get a handle on any issues in the shorter term rather than waiting for the ATSB report.
The last recorded Qantas hull loss was in 1960, when a propeller-powered Lockheed Super Constellation carrying 50 passengers and crew was destroyed by a fire after it ran off a runway in Mauritius. The aircraft's No3 engine lost power just before take-off, prompting the captain to abort.
Despite attempts by the crew to stop the plane, it did not decelerate as expected and it was still doing 40 knots when it left the runway.
It bounced over a low embankment, crashed into a gully and caught fire.
The passengers and crew escaped from the burning plane unharmed except for a woman who broke her ankle as she fell from the cabin door.