The Qantas Anni Horribilis Master Thread

[KeithMEL]

Well, I have no problems with them reporting the incidents but the way it's done shows an extreme lack of perspective, especially the stories run by Fairfax.

"fleet hits trouble"????
"drama"???
And placing that in the same context as QF30 and QF72...

I'm just surprised they've yet to try attributing any of it to overseas maintenance.

[tokyonite]

Just watched the live new, qantas screwed up again... this time abort take-off because the 747-300 wings buckled. lol

[KeithMEL]

http://www.theage.com.au/national/qa...1122-6egz.html

Qantas flight cancelled after wing damage

* November 22, 2008 - 7:38PM

A New Zealand-bound Qantas flight had to be aborted minutes before takeoff when wing damage was discovered by an engineer at Sydney airport.

The Christchurch-bound Qantas 747-300 was taxiing towards the runway at 9.15am (AEST) Saturday, when an engineer noticed damage to its right wing flap.

The engineer notified the pilot, who aborted the flight.

Qantas said all 213 passengers on the plane have been provided with accommodation and meal vouchers, and booked on another flight on Sunday morning.

The cause of the damage is being assessed, a spokeswoman for the airline said.

...

Haven't seen 743s doing SYD-CHC before as they're usually domestic or MEL-AKL-LAX when the 744 goes for maintenance, but my friend commented on seeing 743s at SYD Intl yesterday.

[milehighj]

Qantas aborts flight to S'pore

A Qantas Airbus A330 carrying 168 passengers to Singapore had to shut down an engine and turn back to Perth. -AFP

Sat, Nov 29, 2008
AFP

SYDNEY - THE captain of a Qantas Airbus A330 carrying 168 passengers to Singapore had to shut down an engine and turn back to Perth after an oil warning light flashed, the airline said on Saturday.

The plane flew back to the west Australian city on one engine after the mid-air drama on Friday. Passengers were rescheduled on a replacement flight that took off nearly five hours late.

'Initial inspections by engineers indicate that a fault with the engine starter motor could have led to the engine oil problem,' Qantas spokesman David Cox told the Sydney Morning Herald.

The incident was the latest in a series of problems suffered by Australia's troubled national airline in recent months.

http://travel.asiaone.com/print/Trav...29-104321.html

[soak01]

Here we go again! QF A330 lands in Brisbane from Singapore with steering fault.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2...tion=australia

A Qantas international flight has touched down without incident at the Brisbane Airport despite problems with its steering system.

The Airbus A330 flight QF52 was carrying 247 passengers and crew from Singapore.

Qantas says the pilot noticed a warning signal mid-flight indicating a problem with a part of the hydraulic steering system.

Ambulance and fire crews were on standby when the plane landed but it appeared to touch down safely.

[niceguy69]

A Qantas jet that got bogged at Sydney airport is the latest in a series of mishaps to dog the Australian airline.

Maintenance workers took a shortcut while towing an aircraft along a taxiway on Friday, which landed it in trouble, according to a number of witnesses' accounts on the professional pilot rumour network website

The Airbus A330, laden with fuel but not carrying passengers, was due to fly to Tokyo, but because of the mishap the flight was cancelled.

Qantas confirmed the incident saying a towbar holding the aircraft to the truck had failed and two of the jet's wheels went onto the grass beside the taxiway.

"Obviously it is a fairly unusual incident," a Qantas spokesman told AAP.

"It was all resolved relatively quickly - there were no passengers on it, there was no inconvenience to any passengers."

After being pulled out the plane returned to operations within 12 hours, he said.

It is understood a safety advisory note, called a NOTAM (notice to airmen) - which alerts pilots to changes at airports and in airspace - was issued about some changes to the taxiway.

Emergency vehicles were seen surrounding the jet.

One observer told the pprune website: "(It) looked hilarious, all the orange safety car lights going off around it."

It has been a tough few months for the flying kangaroo, including a mid-air incident over Western Australia, an exploding oxygen tank blowing a hole in the fuselage on an international flight, security screening breaches and a number of maintenance incidents.

http://travelworld101.com/board/inde...pic,265.0.html

[matt_will_fix_it]

The Airbus A330, laden with fuel but not carrying passengers, was due to fly to Tokyo, but because of the mishap the flight was cancelled.

"It was all resolved relatively quickly - there were no passengers on it, there was no inconvenience to any passengers."

My bolding... something doesn't add up there.... not the best written article

[Megatop]

Bogus aircraft engineer checked Qantas planes

Deleted

[KeithMEL]

http://www.theage.com.au/travel/trav...0303-8ngr.html

Fuel-system faults raise fears of A380 design flaws
Paul Bibby
March 4, 2009

IDENTICAL fuel-system faults have been found on two of Qantas's new A380 superjumbos, raising fears that a design flaw could threaten the multibillion-dollar investment that is critical to its future.

In the past 36 hours, passengers on two Los Angeles-bound flights have been forced onto replacement Boeing 747s after the Airbus A380s they were meant to be travelling on were declared unserviceable.

After a third A380 was also grounded due to mechanical problems, Qantas said both aircraft had experienced problems with the probe-like monitoring devices inside their fuel tanks.

"The monitoring device … had been affected by contaminants in the fuel tank - they were giving incorrect readings," said Lyell Strambi, the airline's executive general manager of operations.

"[Contamination] built up around the probes and sent a false reading to us. It didn't affect the safety of the aircraft; it just meant we were getting a false reading.

Mr Strambi denied the fuel-tank problem raised questions about the airline's decision to purchase 20 A380s from manufacturer Airbus for $350 million each, describing the issues as "a few teething problems".

But he refused to rule out the possibility of a problem with the aircraft's design.

"Is this a problem with design? It's too early to tell. We'll have to work out what's caused the contamination in the tank."

Airbus yesterday issued an alert to the other operators of the A380 - Singapore Airlines and Emirates - informing them of the problem and suggesting they take corrective action.

While there have been few publicised examples of problems with the fuel-monitoring devices since the A380 was launched by Singapore Airlines in November 2007, the superjumbos have experienced a number of fuel-system faults.

In February 2007 an electrical system that serviced a fuel pump on a Singapore Airlines flight failed, leaving 70 passengers stranded without a hotel room. An auxiliary fuel pump on another Singapore flight failed.

Qantas and Singapore Airlines played down the problems yesterday, insisting the introduction of the A380 had been trouble free compared with the entry of the Boeing 747.

...

[Kyo]

Interesting yet worrying! Wonder if SQ noticed this at all the past year with their 388s..?

[KeithMEL]

Qantas safety video by Pam Ann:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnkIWEJ3e54

Hysterical!

It's based on the old Qantas safety demo, as well as the incidents detailed in this thread.

[whatsthequestionnow]

Qantas safety video by Pam Ann:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnkIWEJ3e54

Hysterical!

It's based on the old Qantas safety demo, as well as the incidents detailed in this thread.

That was just great!!

you have just started me on the serach for more of Pam Ann... for those who travel to Athens... the Olympic Airlines ones is excellent.

[HUGE AL]

Classic, KeithMEL!

[Gunnar Smithsen]

Is this show still doing the rounds on the Comedy Channel on Foxtel? It was always good for a laugh..

I caught the first few episodes and then my days off changed and I always missed it...

[whatsthequestionnow]

Fast approach causes Qantas panic

http://www.news.com.au/travel/story/...014090,00.html



Fast approach causes Qantas panic

By staff writers

The Advertiser

May 25, 2009 02:45pm


A QANTAS domestic flight performed a "faster than normal" descent last night, triggering oxygen masks to be deployed and terrifying passengers.

Passengers on board the QF552 flight from Sydney to Brisbane were told that a 20-minute delay before the take-off was because of "technical problems".

But during the flight oxygen masks were deployed and passengers were told to breathe through them, sparking panic.

A Qantas spokeswoman told the Brisbane Times that the aircraft descended at an above-average rate after pilots received a depressurisation warning.

The spokeswoman said she could not confirm that there had been a decrease in pressure.

Qantas came under fire after an exploding gas cylinder caused a sudden fall in altitude of a passenger plane last year.

About 74 people were injured during that flight.

More to come