From today's
SMH:
Qantas crack scare
February 19, 2008 - 5:53PM
Smell stops flight
Super jumbo glitch
Qantas has suffered another blemish to its once gold-plated safety record, after air safety investigators revealed the airline found cracks in the "drip shields" on nearly half of its 747 fleet.
The Australian Transport and Safety Bureau today reported Qantas found cracks in 14 of its 30 Boeing 747s, similar to those on a jet which lost nearly all of its electrical power on approach to Bangkok on January 7.
However, the ATSB said its preliminary investigations indicated "the event was less serious than first reported".
It referred to the "initial reports" that the jet "had sustained system failures resulting in the loss of all alternating electrical power".
But it said one of the jet's four "alternate current buses" - or power generation units - was still operable, along with some systems powered by batteries, giving the jet enough power to land safely.
The regulator dismissed earlier reports the jet had relied solely on battery power.
The loss of power occurred after the crack led water to leak from a sink into the forward galley of the plane and then into three electrical generator control units.
The ATSB said the leak was first reported when the jet was on descent to Bangkok at 21,000 feet.
Cabin crew attempted to soak up the water that covered the entire galley floor using five blankets. The ATSB said crew reported that the water was "smelly".
Minutes later, the jet's auto-pilot was disengaged, the first officer's displays were "blanked" and three of the jets four power units lost power.
All of the cabin lights were extinguished and radio transmissions were also "less than normal".
"The captain's primary flight display, navigation display, and some other instruments were available in a degraded mode," the ATSB report said. "Standby instruments and the aircraft's instrument landing system were also available."
Around 27 minutes after the aircraft first showed signs of losing electrical power, the jet landed safely with its 365 passengers and crew.
A Qantas spokeswoman said the airline had fixed the cracks discovered on its other 747s.
"Qantas has also issued a directive requiring cabin and flight crews to treat and report abnormal water accumulation in galley areas," she said.
Qantas said it plans to help safety regulators in their ongoing investigations.
"It's inappropriate to comment further until these investigations have been concluded," the spokeswoman said.
ATSB VH-OJM Preliminary Report