Qantas safety and maintenance issues rise in the wake of former chief Alan Joyce’s cost cutting extravaganza. Latest are a hydraulics failure and another bleed duct issue. What’s the scam?
The scam is Qantas pilots who are MWM sources for maintenance failures say the airline should be audited by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) or Air Traffic Safety Board (ATSB), which could issue a ‘show cause notice’. Given Qantas’ monopoly status, it would be difficult to ground the airline as they did with Ansett before the collapse.
The incidents, including a video which went viral (below) of bolts missing in a bleed duct, have not been put to Qantas as Qantas public relations ignores MWM media inquiries, so they have not been independently corroborated by the company, although a source said the hydraulics failure has been reported to the ATSB.
The latest, according to a second Qantas pilot source, is a dual hydraulic failure on Qantas 737 into the Gold Coast last night – QF596. The plane was “stuck for 3 hours on runway unable to steer off after landing,” said the source.
“In flight the huge control surfaces have no power assist, and have to be physically wrestled by pilots into a very scary manual, no power assist landing with minimal brakes and flaps.
“This is a very serious event. Crew were able to complete the landing using residual system pressure, which was leaking down rapidly. Had they aborted the approach and gone around, they would have entered a very scary world indeed, and at night.”
No hydraulics means no thrust reversers, autopilots, wing flaps, ground spoilers landing gear manual extension, no steering on ground, emergency brakes only, said the source.
A second incident in recent days, another source told MWM (and which followed the 737 bleed duct issue) was: “On Friday QF650 scheduled from Perth to Sydney at 2:30 was delayed and the flight ultimately grounded because of a bleed duct problem. That aircraft, however, was an Airbus A330.” That’s the Tennant Creek, which appears to have flown over the Nullarbor with the defect.
Counter to our tweet below, the maintenance issue on the 737 did not originate in the Middle East but in Brisbane. Qantas has confirmed the other details.
The string of safety alarms is not expected to help Alan Joyce get his final $25m in bonuses come the November annual meeting, a figure which would bring his executive pay to $184m.
"Qantas 737’s back from maintenance in the Middle East – 3 of four bolts holding the 9th stage bleed duct on, plus the seal missing, [they] fell out the bottom of the cowl". Source: Qantas pilot.#auspol pic.twitter.com/4uWgGqgPGY
— 💧Michael West (@MichaelWestBiz) September 7, 2023
Michael West established Michael West Media in 2016 to focus on journalism of high public interest, particularly the rising power of corporations over democracy. West was formerly a journalist and editor with Fairfax newspapers, a columnist for News Corp and even, once, a stockbroker.