Air Transat, union dispute report of call from mechanic concerned about plane
Updated: Mon, Sep 03 7:35 PM EDT
Air Transat disputed that a mechanic told his boss that a plane, shown, forced to make an emergency landing on an island airstrip, was not ready to fly. (AP/Humberta Augusto) (CP)
MONTREAL (CP) - Both Air Transat and the union representing its mechanics said Monday they know nothing about efforts by a senior airline mechanic to alert his boss that a plane which lost power over the Atlantic was not ready to fly.
A report published in the Globe and Mail on Monday quoted a union official saying the mechanic was so worried about the plane that he tape-recorded a phone conservation with his non-union supervisor.
But the boss overruled his advice to leave the Airbus A330-200 on the ground after an engine replacement days before the incident late last month, said Jean Jallet, president of Lodge 1751 of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers.
The plane, en route to Lisbon from Toronto, was forced to make an emergency landing on an island airstrip.
A news release issued by the airline Monday said company officials looked into the story and contacted the appropriate unions.
"No conversation, recorded or not, to the effect that the plane in question should not have been in service, can be traced," the statement said.
A few hours later, the union issued a similar statement.
"Certain recent statements by union representative Jallet . . . were inaccurate," Robert Guay, the union's Quebec co-ordinator, said in a release.
"The usual procedures were followed by Air Transat mechanics.
"Even if telephone conversations can sometimes be recorded, we don't know of the existence of any conversation, recorded or not, during which a supervisor was warned by one of our members about a problem with the plane."
Guay spoke harshly about the statement from union colleague Jallet, saying "we deplore such speculation by ill-informed union members."
In an interview, Guay suggested it was likely a lack of experience with such incidents which prompted Jallet's comments.
"A person who does this kind of thing can put an airline in peril before we have proof that it's the truth," said Guay.
Air Transat spokesman Michel Lemay said the allegations in the article suggest the airline did not put safety first.
"There's a story today to the effect that the company management was advised there was a problem with the plane and let it go anyway," Lemay told reporters outside the company's office at Mirabel Airport.
"We've verified today that that's completely false."
The airline reiterated its assertion that all its planes are held to high safety and maintenance standards.
"We don't make any compromises on these questions, which explains the extreme importance we place on ensuring that this investigation be completed under the best possible conditions," president Denis Jacob said in the release.
But Jallet told the Globe that not all work recommended by the manufacturer was completed during the engine replacement.
"He (the unidentified mechanic) didn't want to release the plane," said Jallet, who represents mechanics at Transat's Mirabel hangar north of Montreal.
Five days later, after several uneventful round trips, the plane's engines after losing fuel. Its pilot was forced to make an powerless emergency landing on an island runway to save the lives of the 304 people aboard.
Air Transat said the mechanic's supervisor was "relieved of his duties with pay" last week, but said the action was simply standard procedure during such investigations and not a disciplinary suspension.
Neither the airline nor the union would release the names of the mechanic or his superior, the Globe reported.
The cause of the nearly disastrous landing is still under investigation and Jacob was critical of various media reports about possible causes.
"Air Transat deplores the speculation and indeed these hasty conclusions made by third parties who don't possess all the facts," said Jacob.
"Certain details, often incorrect - culminating in those (reported) today - could turn out to have only a minor role, or perhaps no role, in the cause of the incident."
Meanwhile, the union has offered lawyers to the mechanic to help him through the investigation, Jallet said.
"(The mechanic) did the right thing," Jallet said. "When they tell you something you don't agree with, you have to call them back and get it on tape. That way you're covered."
However, Jallet would not reveal the exact contents of the taped conversation between the mechanic and his supervisor.
Meanwhile, Lemay said some of the passengers aboard the troubled flight have returned to Toronto, with others expected in the coming days.
The plane remains in the Azores, but is no longer needed by investigators at the scene.
Lemay said it will be repaired and likely sent to Airbus for further study.