Qantas crack crisis: Airline admits three planes found with damage
Cracks have been uncovered on three Qantas planes in the “ickle fork” which connects the wings to the body of the aircraft.
33 Boeing 737s were inspected for hairline cracks and engineers found three of the jets have had to be grounded for urgent repairs as the busy Christmas season approaches.
“Of the 33 of Qantas' 737 aircraft that required inspection, three were found to have a hairline crack in the pickle fork structure,” Qantas said in a statement on Friday morning.
The three aircraft’s will remain out of service until the end of 2019, as Qantas works with the Civil Aviation Safety Authority to resolve the safety issue.
The chief executive of the airline's Domestic wing, Andrew David, said the inspections had been brought forward by seven months purely as a safety inspection.
“We would never fly an aircraft that wasn't safe,” he said.
“Even where these hairline cracks are present they’re not an immediate risk, which is clear from the fact the checks were not required for at least seven months.”
The Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association on Thursday said a second Qantas 737 was found to have a “cracked primary wing structure”, which sparked a call for the entire fleet to be grounded.
“These aircraft should be kept safe on the ground until urgent inspections are completed,” Steve Purvinas, the union’s secretary said.
The airline has 75 Boeing 737 aircraft in its fleet.
Mr David has accused the trade union of misrepresenting the facts.
“Those comments were especially disappointing given the fantastic job our engineers have done to inspect these aircraft well ahead of schedule, and the priority they give to safety every day of the week,” he said.
The US Federal Aviation Administration ordered American airlines to check if all of the 737s had been checked for cracks by completing more than 30,000 take-offs and landings, better known as cycles.
In Australia, the Qantas planes had completed about 27,000 cycles.
Qantas ordered inspections on any aircraft that had flown 22,600 cycles.
Inspections began after hairline cracks were found on an aircraft with just under 27,000 cycles.