Qantas ground 6 x B737-400's

[Skystar320]

Sydney, 12 August 2008

Qantas said today it would remove six B737-400 aircraft from service while it cross-checked maintenance records relating to aircraft modification work carried out at one of its Australian facilities.

The Executive General Manager of Qantas Engineering, Mr David Cox, said the issue was one of procedure, and did not have any safety implications.

"Qantas discovered an irregularity with paperwork for these aircraft during an internal integrity check of maintenance records," Mr Cox said.

"In line with our prudent response to any maintenance issue, however minor, we have elected to suspend the operation of the six aircraft while we ensure all our records are 100 per cent accurate and we have advised the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA).

"We regularly check our records and detect a record keeping anomaly on average once a year.

"Having the aircraft out of service has resulted in the cancellation of three services tonight, with all affected passengers being reaccommodated on flights within two hours of their original departure time."

Issued by Qantas Corporate Communication (3802)

Who didn't see this coming?

[woollcott]

Its a paperwork / compliance problem concerning mods to the Sta 178 bulkhead. A quite complex 100 plus page modification, it appears a certain part of the modification may not have been completed because it was not called up in the original paperwork.

Unfortunately, the media will have a field day with this..............

[The masked goatrider]

So why shouldn't the press have a field day with this one?

Here we have an airline who imports a wagon load of ex Ansett Engineering Managers who have already helped bring down one airline and they are trying to implement the same cost saving models at QF. The system has failed bloke.

6 planes may be on the ground safely tonight but what else have they stuffed up that we don't know about?

[Angle of Attack]

Regardless if the media have a field day or not, it is a non compliance and there is a problem, and I can guarantee there will be more! Management have delayed it for a few months now it comes back to bite!! Sad but true those goons should not even have a sniff of a bonus because of what is going on..... I wish! ^^;

[SIUYA]

it is a non compliance and there is a problem

It sure is a problem if it's a non-compliance. You'd expect theat CASA would have picked up something like this earlier on during all of the surveillance that it's supposed to have been conducting on QF according to its media spokesperson.

Another example of why things at both QF and CASA need to be changed so that they work as advertised for shareholders, SLF, and last but not least, Australian taxpayers.

[Statorblade]

The problem is that QF is monitoring CASA - it should be the other way round.

[keagy]

Isn't this how the Ansett disaster started??

[Skystar320]

ex Ansett Engineering Managers who have already helped bring down one airline

I am guessing with the tone, you were not accepted by Qantas?

[Skystar320]

Isn't this how the Ansett disaster started??

No not really, AN were in a bad shape [Thanks to AirNZ] before CASA grounded the 767-200's

Was CASA playing a part in Ansett's demise, ABSOLUTELY! - we couldn't see the Red Kangaroo go bust could we?

[RU/16]

Im with you skystar poor Qantas watch everyone jump up in support of the red rat. At least they didnt have the whole 767 fleet grounded on good friday!
A few small jets on a tuesday night wont hurt as much as the media beat up.
About time CASA did thier job to the same standard thay applied to An years ago.
Serves them right!

[Teal]

...a wagon load of ex Ansett Engineering Managers who have already helped bring down one airline...

You can't blame engineers for more than $1 billion in liabilities (excluding employee entitlements) that Ansett had on collapse. Ansett owed over $500 million to two banks, and a similar amount to trade suppliers.

[Skystar320]

Teal,

I agree though AirNZ played a part in putting massive amounts of bills through AN's accounts.

However this is a thread about Qantas not Ansett....

[HotDog]

What a pity we can't blame MAS for this one.

[blueloo]

Not really. Now QF management can't pass the buck. They have to be held accountable.

[Kangaroo Court]

Within the safety culture of most airlines, admitting a mistake publicly and taking the blame is a sign of strength..not weakness!

QF should be congratulated on their culture and humility and not dragged through the weekly beatings of PPrune on this one. I'm sure we can all learn a lot from this mistake and be better prepared to be even more careful with our paperwork and regulatory compliance.

No; I don't work for QF, but I still love the airline.

[Flight Detent]

Hey Guys....

This whole thing is created to publicly see the resolve of QF, to smooth the bumps of the past couple of very public 'incidents'.

Just to 'show' that someone is home at QF...which may or may not be true, especially with this specific manager.

Now we've all seen that QF is still 'caring' about safety of it's pax, we can now rest easy riding in their airplanes!!

At least that's the intent of the underlying message!!

Cheers...FD...

[Flying Ninja]

Wonder if they knew about this and have been sitting on it since say......about Easter!!

I think Casa have communicated to QF that they will move and QF have jumped in before to save as much face as is possible.

My question is how long have they known and how many people have been put at risk in aircraft with unknown safety standards?
What else is wrong with their maintenance?
How can Casa be sure that the company is complying and that it is safe to carry passengers?This compliance is a requirement of their AOC.
Surely Casa must take steps to ensure total compliance via a complete survey of their maintenance.
What happens to the AOC in the meantime?
If there is an accident ( sorry no accidents on QF ,just incidents...sometimes) and there is injury or loss of life due to proven suspect maintenance standard, what will the insurers and courts say?

So, bits fall off aircraft, it's ok
Electrical Problems, it's the cabin crew pouring water or coffee ( You'll know that's crap if you ever tried to get a cup of coffee on a QF flight)
Holes in planes....?
Subcontract maint probs .... not our fault. Do we really need to check it's done?

OOOHH! ...A paper discrepancy....what should we do? Ummm?...dunno....oh, that's right we ground the aircraft...just in case something ever happens.


Does Skytraks include safety in their surveys?

The "Red Rat" is a good title

[Flying Ninja]

Forgot to add that this would be a perfect opportunity to scrap the 737s and move the services to ....Jetstar!
More than a maint problem solved!

[Short_Circuit]

The Executive General Manager of Qantas Engineering, Mr David Cox, said the issue was one of procedure, and did not have any safety implications.

Its a paperwork / compliance problem concerning mods to the Sta 178 bulkhead. A quite complex 100 plus page modification, it appears a certain part of the modification may not have been completed because it was not called up in the original paperwork.

Nothing to do with safety, (unless an oxygen cylinder lets go and you have a pressure spike that compromises the bulkhead) but that almost never ever happens, so how could it be a safety issue?

[The masked goatrider]

Not a safety issue. No it never is David when your bonus is at stake but what do FAA say about this particular mod (FAA AD 2001-02-01 Amdt 39-12085).

This action is intended to address the identified unsafe condition.

That was in 2001.