Pilots Warn Worse To Come If Takeover Succeeds

Angry pilots called for a senate inquiry and an "urgent internal investigation" after a Qantas ferry flight landed at Sydney Airport, and the plane's crew discovered its emergency oxygen system had been sealed by maintenance workers in the Phillipines.

The aircraft was returning to Sydney after a major C-check overhaul by Lufthansa Technik, an offshoot of Germany's international airline, and was carrying a flight crew and possibly other Qantas staff.

The error was noted after the Airbus A330 landed in Sydney. Australia's Herald Sun reported a leaked maintenance report on the Airbus, dated March 11 that said, "On investergation (sic) found crew oxy bottle shutoff valve in the closed position and lockwired."

A poor maintenance report of a Qantas 747-400 Jumbo from last year in Singapore surfaced this week, as well. Both incidents have inflamed concerns among Qantas employees and politicians of the airline's maintenance standards -- and that those standards could slip further if an $11.1 billion bid for the carrier goes through.

Concerned pilots and maintenance engineers have compared the problem to the situation Prime Minister John Howard confronted in a smoke-filled aircraft this past weekend.

Howard was involved in a "mid-air drama" Saturday while in southern Iraq for a surprise visit, according to Australia's Brisbane Times. The Prime Minister's RAAF C-130 Hercules was forced to make an emergency landing just after take-off, when the cabin filled with smoke forcing all on board to don oxygen masks.

"If there had been smoke in the (Qantas) aircraft, the crew would have needed that oxygen," said Captain Mike Glynn, acting president of the Australian International Pilots Association and a qualified A330 pilot. "This oxygen is meant to be provided to flight crew during an emergency."

If the problem was missed during a pre-flight check, it could have led to "potentially dire circumstances," Glynn said.

David Cox, Qantas executive general manager for engineering, said a back-up oxygen bottle was on the aircraft during the Manila-to-Australia flight.

"No facility is perfect, every facility has problems," he said, arguing "it was the diligence with which maintenance issues were managed that was what eventually counted."

He noted a "quality resolution was in play with Lufthansa Technik." Pressed by reporters as to how this situation occurred, Cox replied: "I don't think that's appropriate for me to speculate. We are running an investigation with the provider. We will run it down to root cause.

"We will not give up if we are going to use that facility again until the specifics of that issue have been resolved."

As far as the leaked maintenance audit report is concerned, Cox said since it details confidential information, it could become a criminal matter.

This latest issue compounds on complaints carrier employees have about outsourcing maintenance overseas.

According to a report in The Australian yesterday "a Qantas investigation had raised doubts over whether maintenance carried out on its planes overseas was meeting the airline's own standards or those of the Civil Aviation Safety Authority."

"If the standards are not up to our expectations we will go in and deal with that" said Cox.

FMI: www.qantas.com