Author Topic: Qantas can't get a break  (Read 3671 times)

Offline Rooster Cruiser

  • Alpha Rooster
  • *****
  • Posts: 2005
  • Retired Chicken Hauler
Qantas can't get a break
« on: October 07, 2008, 03:55:35 PM »
Just as things were settling down and the press was beginning to forget about Qantas, this happens!   ::banghead:: ::banghead:: ::complaining: ::complaining: ::rambo:: ::rambo::

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,433722,00.html
Quote
Qantas Passengers Suffer Broken Bones During In-Flight Altitude Drop, Emergency Landing
Tuesday, October 07, 2008

 E-Mail Print Share:
 
 AP


Thirty-six people suffered broken bones and other injuries when a Qantas plane carrying more than 300 passengers was involved in a “mid-air incident” and was forced to make an emergency landing in Western Australia Tuesday, the Times of London reported.

Crew members issued a “mayday” call and the pilot diverted the aircraft when a sudden change of altitude caused problems while the Airbus A330-300 was traveling in what is known as “level flight.”

The plane, carrying 303 passengers and 10 crew members, was traveling from Singapore to Perth in Western Australia when it was forced to land at Learmonth airport near the remote coastal town of Exmouth, 745 miles north of Perth at 1:45 p.m. local time.

About 15 of the passengers were listed as having serious injuries. A spokesman for Western Australia Police told Times Online that the injured passengers, most of whom were at the rear of the plane, were treated by nurses at the scene and would then be transferred to a local hospital.

Qantas said the problem was related to “a sudden change in altitude” but no details are yet available as to what caused the altitude change.

“A number of passengers and crew sustained injuries, including fractures and lacerations, on board QF72 this afternoon en route from Singapore to Perth following a sudden change in altitude," Qantas said.

RelatedStories
Oxygen Bottle Burst on Qantas Flight, Investigation Reveals The Royal Flying Doctor Service was preparing to send up to four planes to Exmouth to fly the most seriously injured to Perth, but RFDS public affairs director Lesleigh Green told the Australian Associated Press that none of the passengers' injuries was thought to be life threatening.

Learmonth airport has only one runway, about 10,000-feet long, and is used mainly by oil and gas companies.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau said it is sending seven investigators to Learmonth airport to begin their investigations, which will continue on Wednesday.

The emergency landing is the latest in a string of incidents involving Qantas planes this year. In one, a plane traveling from London to Melbourne made an emergency landing in the Philippines after a gas cylinder exploded on board, blowing a hole in the fuselage.
« Last Edit: October 08, 2008, 02:01:10 AM by Rooster Cruiser »
"Me 'n Earl was haulin' chickens / On a flatbed outta Wiggins..."

Wolf Creek Pass, by CW McCall

Offline Oddball

  • Chicken Farmer
  • Alpha Rooster
  • *****
  • Posts: 2420
  • I crash better than anybody I know
    • Myspace profile
Re: Qantas can't get a break
« Reply #1 on: October 07, 2008, 06:07:40 PM »
what was it a A380 or a A330-300?  ::thinking:: ::thinking:: :-\ the airliner changes in the report
"You can teach monkeys to fly better than that!"and "spring chicken to sh**e hawk in one easy lesson"

Offline leiafee

  • Cockerel
  • ***
  • Posts: 183
    • "Lets go flying": Scribblings of a novice PPL
Re: Qantas can't get a break
« Reply #2 on: October 07, 2008, 06:34:37 PM »
Is this for real?

Quote
"What is known as 'level flight'"
???  That's "going in a straight line boys and girls"

I can think of a few trips of mine that have deserved the quote marks around "level", but do they really think the term needs explaining to the general public? 

Offline Rooster Cruiser

  • Alpha Rooster
  • *****
  • Posts: 2005
  • Retired Chicken Hauler
Re: Qantas can't get a break
« Reply #3 on: October 08, 2008, 02:10:23 AM »
Ian, that was a caption for the file photo that accompanied the article.  I removed it from the quote for clarity.

I admit Leah, its a horribly written piece.  This is the first time I have ever heard of a "mid-air incident", which apparently is a phrase that this cub reporter coined all alone.  If the reporter is that ignorant, it stands to reason he never heard of "Level Flight" and just assumed no one else has either.

Keep this in mind folks, when you read anything published by a news service.  When we see so many journalistic errors in a piece about a subject we know about, imagine how many more there must be in the pieced written on subjects we don't know about!   :o
"Me 'n Earl was haulin' chickens / On a flatbed outta Wiggins..."

Wolf Creek Pass, by CW McCall

Offline BrianGMFS

  • Rooster
  • ****
  • Posts: 429
  • My other car is a Firefly
Re: Qantas can't get a break
« Reply #4 on: October 08, 2008, 12:07:56 PM »
I think I saw something about them hitting SEVERE clear air turbulence and and passengers got tossed about the cabin...

Brian

Edit!!!!!

I was wrong... the is what the think happened...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081008/ap_on_re_au_an/as_australia_qantas_altitude_change
« Last Edit: October 08, 2008, 12:12:44 PM by BrianGMFS »

-

"Take my love, take my land. Take me where I cannot stand. Burn the land and boil the sea, you can't take the sky from me."

Offline Rooster Cruiser

  • Alpha Rooster
  • *****
  • Posts: 2005
  • Retired Chicken Hauler
Re: Qantas can't get a break
« Reply #5 on: October 30, 2008, 02:13:07 AM »
Alright, it is clear to me from this latest article that the press is conducting a vendetta against Qantas.  The flight crew did everything absolutely right by following Air New Zealand to Auckland instead of returning to California, and the press is all over them for it?   ::complaining: ::banghead:: ::rambo::

I will admit that whichever pilot announced to the passengers they were "Flying Blind" across the ocean was asking for it.  That's not how I would describe a weather radar failure.  Still, I do not understand why this was so newsworthy that it was reported around the world by the AP!

What will be next for Qantas?  I half expect to discover that when a Qantas flight attendent has a hangnail that it will be headline news around the world!   ::unbelieveable:: ::complaining: ::banghead:: ::rambo::

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,444824,00.html
Quote
CANBERRA, Australia  —  A Qantas airliner that discovered its weather radar was faulty tailed an Air New Zealand jet across the Pacific on a Wednesday flight from Los Angeles to Sydney, an official said.

The Air New Zealand flight crew provided information about the weather ahead to the Qantas Boeing 747-400 jumbo jet carrying 284 passengers as the two aircraft made the 12-hour journey to Auckland in New Zealand, a Qantas spokeswoman said on condition of anonymity, citing company policy. The Qantas flight later continued on to Sydney, its scheduled destination.

The fault is the latest in a series of high-profile malfunctions and near-misses for Australia's flagship carrier in recent months that have drawn attention to its safety standards.

Network Seven television news reported that the pilot told passengers during the flight that he was "flying blind" across the ocean. Another passenger told the station that the Air New Zealand jet came into view as it flew ahead of the Qantas jet.

The Qantas plane was "a few hours" into its flight when it "experienced a weather radar defect," the company's spokeswoman said.

"An Air New Zealand flight ... was a short distance ahead and it provided the Qantas aircraft with information from its own radar system throughout the journey," she said.

The Qantas jet first landed in Auckland, which was the Air New Zealand plane's scheduled destination, she said. It arrived Sydney about four hours late.

Seven reported that a defective aerial was repaired in Auckland. The spokeswoman said she did not know if the fault was repaired in Auckland or after arrival in Sydney.

She said the fault had never posed any danger.

"None at all. Otherwise they wouldn't have operated the flight," she said, indicating that the jet would have returned to California.
« Last Edit: October 30, 2008, 02:17:06 AM by Rooster Cruiser »
"Me 'n Earl was haulin' chickens / On a flatbed outta Wiggins..."

Wolf Creek Pass, by CW McCall

Offline ZK Kiwi

  • Cockerel
  • ***
  • Posts: 122
    • Wings Over NZ Aviation Forum
Re: Qantas can't get a break
« Reply #6 on: October 30, 2008, 02:43:19 AM »
Yup, the Aussies are always following behind the Kiwis.... :)
If it was supposed to be easy, everyone would be doing it!

Offline gibbo_335

  • Alpha Rooster
  • *****
  • Posts: 1020
  • Flying the NT
Re: Qantas can't get a break
« Reply #7 on: October 30, 2008, 04:22:03 AM »
 ::drinking:: ::drinking:: NOW NOW  ::complaining: play nice or we'll beat you at the Cricket  ::whistle:: ;D AGAIN, Rugby ...ummm  ;D AGAIN  ::whistle:: ::rofl::
« Last Edit: October 30, 2008, 04:47:54 AM by gibbo_335 »
YEWWWwwwwwwwww