engineers dilemma, page-77

3 WEEKS LATE OUT OF MALAYSIA, THEN 10 DAYS IN THE HANGER WHEN IT GOT BACK, AND THEN NUMEROUS DELAYS WITHIN THE NEXT WEEK OF FLYING DUE MORE RECTIFICATION REQUIRED ?????




A QANTAS aircraft just back from a maintenance overhaul in Malaysia had a string of faults including problems with its navigation systems and rudder.

A flight attendant also received two electric shocks in the galley of the 737, which is used on domestic routes, documents obtained by The Age show.

The electric shocks, which occurred on a flight last week, were due to the galley not being properly grounded.

"(The) flight attendant was standing in rear galley and had one hand on galley bench near ovens and one hand on galley bench near (the) brewer. He then felt an electric shock go through his body from one arm to the other," the documents say.

A Qantas spokesman said the airline was investigating the incident but confirmed the crew member had received either a "jolt from a static electrical discharge or a mild electric shock".

A medical was undertaken and the staff member was cleared and returned to work immediately, he said.

The aircraft in question returned to Australia at the start of last week after extensive maintenance in Malaysia.

Its problems have led to renewed criticism from unions about Qantas' moves to outsource maintenance work.

Among the other faults with the 737 and included in a technical log of defects obtained by The Age were:

¡öMovement of the pilot rudder pedals was restricted due to poor installation of the cockpit panels.

¡ö The captain's window had been scratched; a check said it looked as if it had been cleaned with "Scotch-Brite".

¡ö Cooling ducts that controlled computer temperatures were not working properly, likely causing the captain's primary instrument display and indication display screens to black out intermittently.

¡ö Equipment that allowed the air crew to report back to Qantas and vice versa stopped working.

¡ö The aircraft had "throttle stagger", which sources said meant that instead of being able to use autopilot the pilots had to adjust the power of the plane constantly.

Other faults included a "squeal" or leak in the captain's side window and a small turbine engine at the rear of the plane that was over-spinning.

Engineering sources said it was "very unusual" for an aircraft back from a major service to have so many faults.

The bitter industrial dispute between Qantas and its licensed engineers, which last week resulted in scores of flights being cancelled or delayed, has centred on pay ¡ª but outsourcing has been the other key issue.

"We're working with CASA and Qantas to make sure these errors don't occur again," said Steve Purvinas, federal secretary of the Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association.

"It's disappointing that Qantas are now trying to use safety as a bargaining chip when they advise us that they will be sending further maintenance to these facilities if we don't accept this less-than-inflation wage offer."

Unions have been critical of Qantas' decision, announced last December, to outsource some of its heavy maintenance to Malaysia as part of a joint venture with Malaysia Airlines.

A Qantas spokesman said it had been standard practice for the airline to send about 15% of its heavy maintenance checks offshore for decades, with that work overseen by Australian licensed engineers.

"This aircraft has required additional maintenance work since returning to Australia in a number of areas, but is now in service and operating normally," the airline spokesman said.