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Govt asks questions of Air NZ
There has been a top level directive issued to investigators looking into Air New Zealand's latest mishap.
The government says it wants to hear from aviation accident specialists and Air NZ investigators who are investigating how a wing flap dislodged from a 747-400 during take-off from Auckland Airport.
The pilot of flight NZ-2, with more than 300 passengers on board, only discovered there was a problem when landing at Los Angeles airport. The plane was then grounded at Los Angeles.
The six-metre-long wing flap had dislodged and damaged other parts of the wing and tail during take-off.
Wing flaps allow an aircraft to elevate easily during take-off. Aviation experts told ONE News the pilot would have had no reason to detect a problem until landing at Los Angeles.
It is the second case of an Air NZ plane losing parts while in flight in less than a week.
Earlier, a panel from another 747-400 wing fell off shortly after take-off, landing in an Auckland industrial estate just metres from parked cars.
Air NZ engineers have been conducting a full inspection of the entire 747 fleet. Visual checks of all seven aircraft are complete and the airline says nothing untoward has been found.
The Engineers' Union is standing by Air NZ's good reputation.
"Air NZ engineering has an impecable reputation for the work they do and the standrads they meet...
"So to have these incidents happening is a real concern to that workforce and they are very keen to see an investigation to establish what the causes are," says Andrew Little of the Engineers' Union.
While many who were on board the flight are questioning how it could have happened, one kiwi who has now arrived in London says there was little fuss.
"Everything seemed quite normal until we got to LA.
"We were on our final approach... When the plane just suddenly accelerated and they aborted the approach," says flight NZ-2 passanger David Keys.
Investigators are expected to brief the government on Monday, September 2.
Published on Sep 01, 2002