Qantas bosses accused of safety breach

I am posting this as part of my record of complaints about Qantas but I think that this is just nitpicking by disgruntled unionists. Prima Donna unionists are probably behind some of the Qantas maintenance problems

QANTAS engineers have called on the air safety regulator to investigate the airline for safety breaches allegedly committed by managers during a long-running industrial dispute.

The Association of Professional Engineers, Scientists and Managers Australia claims Qantas managers who replace them at night are taking shortcuts, hiding engineering reports and lowering safety margins, The Australian reports.

They cite the example of a Boeing 737 aircraft allowed to fly with a cracked cockpit window, increasing the risk of cabin decompression, and say there are other examples of bad engineering decisions.

The union, which represents professional engineers who check Qantas faults and sign off on repairs, says the Boeing 737-800 was incorrectly cleared to fly from Sydney to Canberra and then from Canberra to Darwin and back before it was grounded. It estimates about 400 passengers were put at risk, and claims the flight breached airworthiness directives.

"We believe these poor engineering decisions have occurred due to those management authorised persons having very little recent experience or day-to-day knowledge of the disciplines they are servicing, or the aircraft type they are supporting,'' association senior industrial officer Alison Rose says in a letter to Civil Aviation Safety Authority boss John McCormick.

But Qantas rejected the accusation. "We are very confident standards are being upheld and subject to regulatory engagement and approval,'' a spokeswoman said. "All our contingency arrangements are undertaken by certified engineers.''

APESMA members began the overtime ban in November.

SOURCE