Qantas

[danja]

If you want bad, try Aloha Airlines. We had a work trip to Hawaii a couple of years back and one of the inter-island flights was on Aloha.

In the late 80s there was a very high profile accident where the forward section of the roof peeled off. They managed to land safely with 1 crew member unaccounted for.

Aloha Airlines Flight 243 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I was surprised when we flew with them - in 2006 they were still operating Boeing 737-200s.

I might be mistaken, but aside from that well-known incident I thought Aloha had a very good safety record? Either way there's something to be said for the pilots who landed the plane safely after an explosive decompressions and the roof ripped off. I don't know what that does to the aerodynamics of a plane, but I'm sure it's not good!

 

[electro cruiser]

I don't know what that does to the aerodynamics of a plane, but I'm sure it's not good!

it causes alot of drag and the stalling speed of the aircraft increases, so it may stall at a higher speed, just really weakened the aircraft, like the nose of the 737 was drooping over a meter down becasue there was no roof to support it up.

and for that airhostes, she got sucked out the plane when the roof opened up.

 

[MasterOfReality]

Jeez these qantas 'engineers' are a precious lot aren't they?

Does anybody know whether they are proper degree qualified engineers or just glorified mechanics?

 

[Bax]

ahh Qantas. They are copping it pretty hard aren't they.

Wouldn't they be flight mechanics, with all work getting checked and signed off by an engineer before being allowed to fly.

I'm sure I'm not the only one, but I'm long over news reports, I'd love to see some non biased, factual reports on the news. I gave up on it long ago.

 

[ProphetVX]

Jeez these qantas 'engineers' are a precious lot aren't they?

Does anybody know whether they are proper degree qualified engineers or just glorified mechanics?

You could argue all mechanical or aeronautical engineers are "glorified mechanics". But you'd be way off the mark.

And as for the regular mechanics employed there, I can assure they go through far more quality testing than your regular mechanic. It's a very tough trade to acquire, especially at qantas.

With the exception of the gas bottle explosion there have been very few incidents that posed a risk to the safety of a plane.

 

[MasterOfReality]

You could argue all mechanical or aeronautical engineers are "glorified mechanics". But you'd be way off the mark.

And as for the regular mechanics employed there, I can assure they go through far more quality testing than your regular mechanic. It's a very tough trade to acquire, especially at qantas.

With the exception of the gas bottle explosion there have been very few incidents that posed a risk to the safety of a plane.

I'm more having a go at some trade qualified people that like to pass themselves off as engineers.

I know that aircraft mechanics is a lot more specialised than your standard car mechanic, hence the difference in pay.

 

[tommo82]

I'm more having a go at some trade qualified people that like to pass themselves off as engineers.

This is relatively common, not just in the airline industry. Many people associate anything technical to engineering. Most airline technical workers are not engineers. Fitter and Turners often call themselves engineers. There have been many other "pretend" engineering disciplines invented such as:

- Desktop support engineer
- sound engineer
- hygiene engineer (no kidding, I saw this once)
- IT Engineer
-

It really annoys me. I believe in Canada it's against the law to call yourself an Engineer unless you actually are one. Unfortunately, I think the term Engineer has become too widespread/misused in Australia.

 

[dynamytedave]

There are statistics that prove that for every passenger per km flown compared to driving by car makes air travel a much safer option.

I know that I would not fly on any other airline than QANTAS. People are now under the impression that QANTAS' engineers are cutting corners and not worthy of pay increases. How well do you think the aircraft will be maintained if the maintenance goes to Singapore or Malaysia?

This is a copy of an email I recieved recently:

Friday, 16 May 2008


The brand spanking new Airbus 340-600, the largest passenger airplane
ever built, sat in its hangar in Toulouse, France without a single hour of
airtime. Enter the flight crew of Abu Dhabi Aircraft Technologies
(ADAT) to conduct pre-delivery tests on the ground, such as engine
runups, prior to delivery to Etihad Airways in Abu Dhabi .

The ADAT crew taxied the A340-600 to the run-up area. Then they took all
four engines to takeoff power with a virtually empty aircraft. Not
having read the run-up manuals, they had no clue just how light an empty
A340-600 really is.

The takeoff warning horn was blaring away in the cockpit because they
had all 4 engines at full power. The aircraft computers thought they were
trying to takeoff but it had not been configured properly (flaps/slats, etc.)

Then one of the ADAT crew decided to pull the circuit breaker on the
Ground Proximity Sensor to silence the alarm. This fools the aircraft into
thinking it is in the air. The computers automatically released all the
brakes and set the aircraft rocketing forward. The ADAT crew had no idea
that this is a safety feature so that pilots can't land with the brakes on.
Not one member of the seven-man crew was smart enough to throttle
back the engines from their max power setting, so the $200 million brand-new
aircraft crashed into a blast barrier, totaling it. The extent of injuries
to the crew is unknown, for there has been a news blackout in the major
media in France and elsewhere. Finally, the photos are starting to leak out. Airbus $200
million aircraft meets retaining wall and the wall wins....

 

[Benboy]

Great copies of photograps however event occurred a few years ago and is 'old news'.

 

[Tatiana]

Dynamytedave:

I googled this event and found this article claiming it is partly fiction:

Aircraft Meets Retaining Wall -Truth! & Fiction!