SYDNEY — Australian airline Qantas Monday said it had grounded five of its Bombardier Q400 planes over concerns about the landing gear of the turbo-prop aircraft.
Airline workers inspected all of Qantas's 21 Bombardiers after another operator, low-cost British carrier Flybe, raised concerns about undercarriage fittings on its fleet of Q400s, Qantas spokesman Simon Rushton said.
"We have picked up some issues with one or two of them (fittings) on each of the (five) aircraft and that has required us to take them out of service," Rushton told AFP. "Rectification work is starting today."
Qantas said it hoped to have two of the planes, which are operated by regional airline QantasLink, back in service on the Sydney to Canberra route by the weekend.
"We're basically allowing three to four weeks for the work to be completed," Rushton said, adding that the five affected aircraft were Qantas's oldest Bombardiers.
Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce said the inspections were carried out after discussions with the Canadian manufacturer.
"Our approach to this issue, which requires the replacement of a main landing gear fitting component, is consistent with Qantas's proactive, conservative and safety-first approach to every part of its operations," he said in a statement.
"The issue is not an immediate flight safety concern, but does need to be rectified before each aircraft can return to service."
Read more Aviation News http://www.smh.com.au
No comments:
Post a Comment