Virgin nose wheel incident [Archive]

lame1

25th Jul 2009, 16:44

Sources indicate VH-VBA was involved in the incident.Major damage to nose gear(axle collapse),lucky the A/C had not taken off .Reports indicated that the safety car picked up the wheel on the runway.Good work it seems by the pilots concerned.Info coming thru slowly any other input would be appreciated.IE what phase of takeoff the A/C was at.How many pax were onboard and destination.

victorc10

25th Jul 2009, 18:22

Yes good work....for not continuing after losing a nose wheel!! he he he

vee1-rotate

26th Jul 2009, 00:27

sorry lame, but not a thing in the media about it, so it can't be true:ok:

Dangnammit

26th Jul 2009, 03:09

If it was Qantas it would have been front page.

Checklist Charlie

26th Jul 2009, 08:17

If it had been Mrats, it might have been reported 6 months later after the crew was sacked, er I mean resigned:E

The Mr Fixit

26th Jul 2009, 23:25

Heard 3AW this morning with the report that had been posted on their rumour file
I can confirm via talking with crews that a wheel axle separated whilst on taxi just short of the runway, it was noticed by another crew following nearby. The aircraft was then taxied back to the gate (at this point I'm wondering whether an engineer inspected it first before they made that decision, sounds dangerous and problematic to me). It is believed that corrosion was the cause but the CASA / ATSB investigation should pin point this.

rmm

27th Jul 2009, 01:09

sorry lame, but not a thing in the media about it, so it can't be true

It is now

Virgin Blue disaster avoided after front wheel falls off plane | Herald Sun (http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,25840508-661,00.html)

Sarah Wotherspoon

July 27, 2009 10:22am

THE aircraft engineers union has demanded tougher safety checks after the front wheel reportedly fell off a Virgin Blue plane.
A potential disaster was avoided after pilots on the tarmac alerted the Virgin pilot that one of the front wheels had fallen off and told him to take the plane back to the terminal.

The plane was about to take off from Melbourne airport about 8am on Saturday.

Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association national secretary Steve Purvinas told 3AW corrosion was thought to have caused the wheel to come loose.

“What occurred is not a case of a wheel nut to being done up properly,” he said.

“There was some corrosion in the axel which has led to the release of the wheel.”

Mr Purvinas said the plane may have crashed if the pilot had attempted to take off or disaster could have struck when the plane went to land.

“If the aircraft had tried to take off and the corrosion was on both sides the nose of the aircraft, the landing gear, would have dug into the runway and who knows what could have happened,” he said.

“Similarly on landing if the axel had collapsed there, it certainly could have been disastrous.”

Virgin Blue did not return calls from the Herald Sun yesterday regarding the incident.

Teal

27th Jul 2009, 01:10

Small item in The Age at 10:29AM

Virgin Blue plane's wheel 'fell off' before take-off (http://www.theage.com.au/travel/travel-news/virgin-blue-planes-wheel-fell-off-before-takeoff-20090727-dy0r.html)

desmotronic

27th Jul 2009, 01:21

Congratulations Sarah Wotherspoon and herald scum editors fail basic spelling.

ax⋅le –noun 1. Machinery. the pin, bar, shaft, or the like, on which or by means of which a wheel or pair of wheels rotates.
2. the spindle at either end of an axletree.
3. an axletree.

ax⋅el
–noun Figure Skating. a jump performed by a skater leaping from the front outer edge of one skate into the air to make 1 1/2 rotations of the body and landing on the back outer edge of the other skate.

VBPCGUY

27th Jul 2009, 02:06

'Wheel falls off Virgin Blue plane on runway' | Travel News | News.com.au (http://www.news.com.au/travel/story/0,28318,25840569-5014090,00.html)

C441

27th Jul 2009, 05:19

A potential disaster was avoided after pilots on the tarmac alerted the Virgin pilot that one of the front wheels had fallen off and told him to take the plane back to the terminal.

Another piece of outstanding aviation journalism. Where do they get these journos??

Sure lucky there were some sensible pilots down there on the tarmac to tell the poor Virgin dude to go back to the termnal otherwise he may have thought taking off with one nosewheel was okay.:rolleyes:

zube

27th Jul 2009, 05:20

That pesky corrosion eh. Lets hope the wings are free of it.

justawanab

27th Jul 2009, 05:56

Sure lucky there were some sensible pilots down there on the tarmac

Do you guys get paid extra for that and do you have to provide your own chairs?
I'm surprised you have time to sit around on the tarmac!
:rolleyes:

Tickle

27th Jul 2009, 06:42

Are 737 nose landing gears engineered to do a takeoff run on one wheel, not to mention a landing?

Do spotters in the control tower look for missing wheels on approaching aircraft?

Just curious.

Could there have been a potential major disaster if the aircraft had attempted a take off or landing with one nose wheel missing? Surely the load on the front of the aircraft would be quiet different on one side, combined with the speed.

The Bullwinkle

27th Jul 2009, 06:47

Do spotters in the control tower look for missing wheels on approaching aircraft?

Not sure, but I do know that engineers would be looking for defects during the pushback.

Oh, hang on a sec. That's right. I forgot.
Virgin Blue uses baggage handlers to push back aircraft in Melbourne!

flitegirl

27th Jul 2009, 08:48

Safety fears raised after plane wheel falls off - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) (http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/07/27/2637051.htm)

Barkly1992

27th Jul 2009, 09:02

Tickle

The guys in the tower certainly did notice the nose wheel still up when Ansett's first try at an international flight from Sydney ended up as a wheels-up at KSA on return due to an engine failure in the B747.

They called the aircraft and advised them their nose wheel was not down just as it landed and was committed. Very embarrassing.

The fireies used to have a picture of it on the wall of their station in KSA.
:\

FRQ Charlie Bravo

27th Jul 2009, 09:29

From aap:

Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association secretary Steve Purvinas called on Virgin Blue to conduct pre-flight safety checks before all flights.
Finally somebody is calling for pre-flight inspections of aircraft. That advice 100 years ago would have probably saved us from all those pesky deaths.

FRQ CB

PS Not a dig at Mr Purvinas but the writing.

splashman

27th Jul 2009, 10:36

So who does preflt inspections on VBA aircraft ?

Pilots, engineers or baggage handlers ?

If it was a corroded axle, who would be most qualified to pick it up before the aircraft left the gate, the pilot, an engineer or a baggage handler?

Seems to me that with a 30 to 45 min turnaround, a pilot would have lots of pilot stuff to do, and a baggage handler would have lots of baggage handling stuff to do.

Preflt takes a good 10 to 15 mins including refuelling.

I think Mr P of the ALAEA has a very good point

teresa green

27th Jul 2009, 11:31

How long ago did this AC have a D check, and are you kidding me that there is no walk around on Virgin aircraft, you must be.

Getzo

27th Jul 2009, 12:51

Was an inspection conducted before the aircraft subsequently moved or the taxi back, lucky the other nosewheel did not come adrift????:eek:

86'er

kimir

27th Jul 2009, 13:56

You ask the question....Who does inspections on turn arounds? engineers and/or pilots.....depends on the flight/port. (edto or not/ outport or not) I can tell you however I personally have picked up concerns regarding the aircraft after a "qualified" lame has done a walkaround, and I'm just a pilot who has to strap his ass to the thing. Every one of us misses things / makes mistakes, we are only human, no problem there, I would prefer an extra set of eyes but this is pure scaremongering by the media. Mr p from the alaea should be careful. Qantas was hit in the media similarly last year, I disagreed with that then too. Having said that I would however prefer an engineer for "every" pushback...not most. In this case it wouldn't have helped anyway. - Highlighting the old problem. Machines break.

makespeed250kt

27th Jul 2009, 22:26

Kimir, I fail to see any scaremongering here? We are talking about the same incident are we?

I'm not sure I'd be to happy If my loved ones had just boarded that aircraft.

Critical Reynolds No

27th Jul 2009, 22:26

Barkly1992:
The fireies used to have a picture of it on the wall of their station in KSA.

They sure did and were told to take down any photos that clearly showed the Airline name on the fuselage. The only photo they could use was just a close up of the nose on the ground with a truck blocking out the Ansett Australia titles.

feetonthedash

27th Jul 2009, 23:18

What was the rego of the VB aircraft with the axle problem?
How old was it?
I thought most VB aircraft were fairly recent models.....:confused:

vee1-rotate

27th Jul 2009, 23:59

Aircraft was VH-VBA, one of the first 737NG's the company puchased. An '01 model I believe.

And Getzo, yes an inspection was definately carried out before the aircraft taxiied back. Engineers went out to the aircraft on the taxiway to assess the issue and deemed it ok for them to taxi back to the gate, albeit a very slow taxi.

Anonymousbluesky

28th Jul 2009, 00:46

Just to make it clear, on all VB flights there is a preflight walk around, the pilots are required to do a walk around prior to every flight but are probably only allowed 10-15mins for this. If there is a PPU (power push back unit) it would be an engineer doing the push, once again due to VB's short turn around there is only about 10 -15 minutes to do a walk around.
You may have seen the bag boys doing a walk around prior to a flight, unfortunately these guys are only trained to drive the tug, plug in a headset to speak to the crew and tell them the chocks are in. So any walk around performed by a bag handler would only be looking for the obvious things i.e. refueling panel closed, engine oil panels closed (although wouldn't check the oil fill cap is on), holds are shut and so on.

But despite all this, if there was a obvious sign of corrosion on the nose landing gear this would have most likely been noticed by the R&D bag boy.

kimir

28th Jul 2009, 00:47

makespeed250, perhaps you shouldn't let your loved ones fly in an aeroplane ever again then. As I said, complex machines sometimes break, have flaws. That is why redundancy is built in, sometimes even that is not enough. Scaremongering - I say yes. The media as usual reporting the worst possible outcome in an attempt to gain ratings. Fact - a nose wheel came off, not saying it is a good thing. We are trained to land without any nosegear, lowering the nose before loosing elevator effectiveness. But reported as "the aircraft could be destroyed". It is like having a small accident in the car on the way to work and them saying you could have been killed. Quite possible any time I get in my car. Scaremongering, because the media have an insatiable desire to instill fear in the travelling public. They do it to all the airlines.

ampclamp

28th Jul 2009, 02:09

Steve P is doing his job.Doing his best to get LAME's the best possible wages for their qual's and work and to get as many employed as possible.
I doubt anyone could have seen the issue developing but there have been many occasions when a dispatch LAME has.

Having 2 sets of eyes do a walk around is a good thing.So many times things are picked up.Sometimes pilots see thing we dont and many times the other way.Thats our job.And it is team work in the end.
Bird strikes , cracks fuel leaks hyd leaks, missed lightning strikes, ground handling damage etc.
I'm amazed at what some of the guys find doing a walk around.Cracks in fuselage , hori stab cracks.:ok:

The more eyes on the job the better.All the better if its from a pilots perspective and a LAME.'s too.

bud leon

28th Jul 2009, 02:11

I'm sorry kimir, but I don't agree. A wheel fell off. It fell off. That means it was not very well attached before the plane left the terminal. Forget that it is the airline industry, in any industry this would be unacceptable. It would be unacceptable if it fell off a bus. I don't want to hear that pilots are trained to land without front wheels. (And in any case, I'm not sure they trained to take off without the front wheels.)

While I agree that the media scaremongers, and work to instill fear (about everything) it's difficult not to percieve a wheel falling off during taxi as a serious issue.

greenslopes

28th Jul 2009, 02:24

The facts remain that for the last four years at least all airlines have been introducing procedures reducing the number of LAMES required prior to dispatch and pushback. There is as we all know is balanced by the risk of incident. We have now seen an occurence that may or may not be predicated on the reduced number of LAMES present on the tarmac.
Having said all that how anyone let alone a LAME could see corrosion of an axle contained within the nosewheel assembly is indeterminate(unless ofcourse you have x-ray vision).

Lets face it accidents sometimes happen, but sometimes the latent failures sit there and remain latent and only the most rigid of systems can combat this.

feetonthedash

28th Jul 2009, 04:12

Thanks Vee1
Gee......... I have seen shopping trolleys made in 2001 that still have their wheels on them:uhoh:
"If it's not Airbus..I am not going":ok:

piston broke again

28th Jul 2009, 04:17

Was getting ready to depart myself and heard all the radio chatter and saw the aircraft. Appeared to be very well handled by the crew and its sounds like the passengers were never put at any extra risk following the event. Well done.

kimir

28th Jul 2009, 04:40

Bud leon, sorry mate perhaps i should sugar coat it for you and tell you nothing ever goes wrong. We also never operate with defects allowed by the ddg/mel. If you read my post you will notice I agree that it is a serious thing, don't deny that. On a previous post I said i would also like an engineer to do a walkaround on top of mine. I suppose we could carry an engineer every time we go to an outport without engineering too. Many things we do ever so slightly reduce safety in the name of economics. Reduced thrust takeoffs as an example. Can you tell me whether a pilot, or a pilot and an engineer did a walkaround. I doubt it. An engineer can't always be expected to pick something up.... especially if it fails away from the gate. The next time you go somewhere in an aeroplane there is a possibility that there is a flaw in the aircraft that may have been there since manufacture date. United DC-10 (sioux city) springs to mind. Yes we are trained to handle many problems, that is a GOOD thing.

C441

28th Jul 2009, 06:52

Trouble is the responsibility for the safe operation of the aircraft is slowly, but surely moving away from the operator and onto the Pilot in Command, while at the same time resources to support the safe operation are being removed.

rodchucker

28th Jul 2009, 07:02

I think all are agreed this was an "unusual" event and one that rightly has focussed attention.

VB started their gig with new aircraft and so have been entitled to claim a dream run by making that strategic decision and commitment.

Lets put aside the issue of walkarounds for the moment, other than to consider what may be acceptable for a new fleet may well not be acceptable as the fleet ages. That is pure risk management.

The issue for me as SLF is whether the aircraft have been correctly maintained AND whether their capacity to handle an ageing fleet is in place.

It does seem unusual that corrosion that can cause such an event wasnt picked up, but will leave that to the experts.

BrissySparkyCoit

28th Jul 2009, 13:18

Kimir, how often do you hear of a wheel falling off a car? Not often... and there are MANY more cars on our roads than planes in our skies. Checks on aircraft SHOULD be a LOT more stringent than on motor vehicles. You would therefore suspect that the likely-hood of a wheel falling off an aircraft is virtually zero when compared to that of a car (considering that I do not recall hearing of a wheel falling off a car in the close to 20 years have been driving).

Would you be a little bit annoyed if a wheel fell off your car? Who could you blame?
The dodgey mechanics?

Or yourself for not giving you car a once over before driving?

Perhaps yourself also for not having the car serviced regularly?:=

division1

28th Jul 2009, 19:33

As for his blatant, well reported and published lies about VB not carrying out any "safety checks" before departure,
I believe our learned friends in funny wigs will be asking him for some evidential proof to qualify his statement in a
small wooden forum very soon..

A case of deja vu for all concerned
Will you use the same learned friends as the last time, lol.

2003...
The Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers' Association has detailed to the Industrial Commission
a number of instances in which it alleges public safety has been put at risk by the airline's new
policy of having pilots, rather than engineers, conducting visual safety checks on aircraft.

30/30 Green Light

28th Jul 2009, 20:16

If as reported the cause of the axle failure was corrosion,perhaps a more pertinent question may be could/should it have been detected at the last nose wheel change.Corrosion is a long-term issue and would have been developing for some time.That said,the aircraft would have had a Daily or equivalent inspection by an engineer in the preceding 48 hours,a somewhat more detailed inspection than any pre-flight.Should it have been discovered then?The issue of engineer pre-flights is like that of the carriage of a flight engineer - redundant - because the manufacturers and the certifying authorities have deemed it to be so!:ugh: All the industrial posturing will make no difference at all. Cheers

bud leon

28th Jul 2009, 23:11

kimir, I understand all that I have a background in safety engineering (and for what it is worth I have studied 232 Sioux City in depth). I'm not criticising what happened on the walkaround - I have no knowledge of that. But I do know 737s do not have a history of losing front wheels during taxi.

Servo

28th Jul 2009, 23:26

Corrosion or FATIGUE??? two completely different problems, either of which are not easy or possible to identify on a visual inspection.

A FlightWest F100 lost a MAIN gear wheel assembly on landing in Norfolk Island many years ago, similar problem. I understand the flight crew were quite alarmed to see the wheel overtake them on the landing roll out!

What bothers me is the rock apes that feel that they have to inscribe their name or "tag" on the main gear strut/link because it is dirty. Reported more than once, in one case down to the metal underneath, to which the LAME said it would have to be removed and inspected.................

Half of you probably dont even operate 737's. Those who do would note that a good visual inspection of the wheel assembly's is possible, but you are looking for the obvious. Hopefully some pictures may surface soon to show the extent of the corrosion/fatigue and where abouts (inside of the axle or rim which is harder to see)

kimir

29th Jul 2009, 04:06

brissysparky, you do not hear of many wheels falling off cars because usually there is no one to witness it and it doesn't sell papers. It was a failure of a system.......thats it.

BrissySparkyCoit

29th Jul 2009, 05:08

Kimir, your casual attituide to this incident is quite concerning.

I only hope you are not involved in aircraft maintenance in any way or at any level.

SRM

29th Jul 2009, 05:15

30/30 GREEN LIGHT FYI, The corrosion you mentioned occurrs under the nose wheel spacer which is not normally removed on a nose wheel change as it is attached by split pins. Therefore the likehood of corrosion being detected on a nose wheel change is fairly remote.

clark y

29th Jul 2009, 06:40

To all who thinks these things never happen. Didn't a regional SAAB lose a wheel last year and a B727 lose a wheel a few years age. Wheels aren't the only things to fall off planes. A 737-700 lost an undercarriage spring which hit a house about 2004, and going back further I seem to recall a B747-300 that ripped a bogie out doing a u-turn on the runway in Rome. GA has had its share as well- a couple of emegency exits come to mind (separate incidents). Bits also get left on planes- a g-clamp on a nacelle. Have I missed any operators? I'm also sure you will find many more incidents on a global scale with a bit of searching.
Bottom line is that these things happen for a wide range of reasons. The reasons need to be addressed and the risks minimised to prevent further incidents.

C441- too true.

Clark y

teresa green

29th Jul 2009, 07:10

No wonder us old blokes loved having a flight engineer on board, nice having another set of eyes and ears, these blokes spoke the same language as the LAME, but then we had a LAME on every pushback, but thats progress for you.:rolleyes:

B772

29th Jul 2009, 11:50

Clark y. You can add an Ansett F27 that lost a main wheel on take-off at MEL in the 80's to your collection of a/c.

kimir

29th Jul 2009, 12:15

Brissysparky, it is obvious you have not read any of my earlier posts. I do believe it is a serious thing, my original point was about the media and also about me not believing anyone, ame, lame or pilot would have been able to pick up the problem.....the thread has digressed. It is obvious you haven't read my post otherwise you would realise i fly 737's. So no I dont have a casual attitude just making comments about the media (the lack of accuracy and substance) and the comments from mr P. Mr P has a responsibility to use his brain and engage it before opening his mouth and inflaming the situation with what could have beens. He in fact is not helping his members if he looses them their jobs due to no-one flying on the airline because they are all scared.(due to his "expert" comments)

BrissySparkyCoit

29th Jul 2009, 14:14

Point taken re reading your earlier posts and I agree that the media seems to over-react to many incidents recently however, I think Steve has made the statements he made for a very good reason.

Over my years in the industry, I have seen the focus shifted from safety and compliance above cost to a situation now where we have bean counters playing a very dangerous balancing act. LAME-less push-backs are a good example.

Nobody knows (yet) the extent of the problems that caused the wheel to come off the aircraft in question however, a few things should be considered.

1) During push back, there may quite likely have been signs that something was wrong. A strange sound perhaps? May not have been evident until the aircraft was actually moving.
No LAME there to observe this.

2) What would have happened had the plane taken off without incident, flown, landed and the wheel come off upon landing? I'd suspect we would have been looking at an incident a bit more serious that what actually occurred.

The point is, how far can cutting back on engineering safely go? Is it really worth the risk to keep going down this path?

Safety before schedule is the catch cry nowadays. If only those that promote this were genuinely serious about it instead of just pissing in our pockets.

VBA Engineer

29th Jul 2009, 18:21

A LAME did the pushback.

It was a LAME despatch with the power push unit.

30/30 Green Light

29th Jul 2009, 20:14

SRM,Thank you for that info.I guess that in this case the issue of the engineer pre-flight is not relevant.However,in light of VBA Eng's post, does the LAME just hook up the power-push and walk away to await departure without a look around out of professional interest? Cheers!

rudderless1

29th Jul 2009, 21:46

I understand the gear was overhauled by Lufthansa Technic, was this an exchange gear machined to full oversize, of far greater age and traceless history than the aircraft which it was fitted? OUTSOURCING IS GREAT it removes any pride in work and ensures its done to a price not a standard.:ugh:
QF worked out this was a costly decision to outsource their gear. They had nice new low cycle, zero oversize, gear out and received unknown max oversize gear in. Atleast a manager got their bonus for a couple of years at whatever expense to the airline!:eek:
I know when I do a wheel change I wipe the axle and have a look and have an idea what to look for! Will this be the same with CAT A Licensed minimally task trained Cert 2 personal?
Airlines will always do what they can get away with. CASA IS RESPONSIBLE to ensure suitable standards are set, maintained and enforced. CASA aint really doing their job!
Axles don't corrode through overnight?
What else wasn't done?

ampclamp

29th Jul 2009, 23:57

So he believes that the average Lame posesses Superman type X-ray vision and the ability to carry out HFEC Insp with the brush of his finger on a pre flight.. Get real man..
Umm, dont remember him saying that.
He's trying to up the standards across the industry and keep LAME's in jobs and if he can get an audience to push that case he'll do it.

As for not biting the hand that feeds it what exactly do you mean?

cant mean Qantas surely after the highly acrimonious EBA dispute that went on last year.Relations although better are not great right now either.
I do remember him and other reps going public over qantas' very well publicised incidents recently.
If he didnt comment on the recent 737 pressurisation issue its prob because it was an NZ registered aircraft.

VBA Engineer

30th Jul 2009, 18:17

Roger Greendeck

31st Jul 2009, 12:24

I am disappointed that an industry body has joined in the (sadly) expected chorus of ill informed comment from the lay media. If anyone is genuinelly expecting that walk arounds by anyone (engineer, pilot or anyone in between) will pick up underlying defects such as corrosion or fatigue, they are having a lend of themselves. A strong regimen of checks to look for underlying problems if the only way that they will be picked up but that is too hard to detail in a 30 second sound bite. A fear campaign that convinces the public that there are quick and easy fixes or appealing to xenophobia regarding maintenance will only hurt all of us in the industry over time as it will not fix any problem.

thosecotos

1st Aug 2009, 06:49

A LAME did the pushback.

It was a LAME despatch with the power push unit.

Fact

No, it was a first time overhaul gear off another VB aircraft

Fact

Everything else on this thread is hearsey and rubbish. Thank you VBA Engineer, now there is nothing left for the Q boys to whinge about.

lordofthewings

2nd Aug 2009, 00:52

Was told gear was overhauled not long ago. Corrosion leads to fatigue, chances are corrosion was treated during overhaul, axles repainted and released serviceable(normally done by a third party company). Metal stress raiser or defect from previous corrosion, would never have known, gear would have looked smick coming fresh out of overhaul.
An event that has fueled much speculation, but one we we more then likely not see again, or for that matter have ever seen.

Going Boeing

2nd Aug 2009, 02:36

The QF B743 landing gear failure during a tight turn at Rome FCO airport (circa 2000) was due to a defect in the strut. The gear had been recently overhauled (I believe by the manufacturer in the US) and the defect in the metal was not detected despite having all the best equipment. I suspect that they were servicing to a price - not to a standard and unfortunately, it looks like most airlines are doing this sort of maintenance.

7378FE

2nd Aug 2009, 02:51

Wait until the press get's word that the axle concerned was obtained from QANTAS :E

7378FE

MMA_Historicflight

2nd Aug 2009, 08:46

The 747-300 was due to corrosion, there is a SB out that you have to put gooey stuff on the trunnion now due to the incident.

Johnny V

3rd Aug 2009, 10:51

Low Cost Carrier = Low Cost Maintenance - it's a simple as that

Beeroclock

3rd Aug 2009, 11:04

Johnny V.. You TW*T!! So whats the excuse of all the carriers that arent low cost when they have an incident that gets blamed on maintenance??

Isnt it bed time in the nursing home??:(

walaper

5th Aug 2009, 09:29

QF is not a low cost carrier now is it.:}

Black Hands

6th Aug 2009, 14:06

Unfortunately, following the slash and burn campaign upon QF's maintenance program over the last 13 years or so, QANTAS Engineering can no longer provide the premium product the Australian public expect, and pay for... Despite the best efforts of the remaining rank and file within.
The race to the bottom continues...