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Airlines

..and Now for Some Qantas News That Doesn't Involve Sex

March 26, 2007 at 9:31 AM | 0 Comments

So back in Rainman days, Dustin Hoffman might've said (more than once) that he wanted to fly the safe airline, Australia's national carrier Qantas, because "Qantas never crashed." But he'd probably be singing a different tune right now, with the Australian media snacking on Qantas's safety record for breakfast these days.

As if the prospect of offshore owners taking control of the "Flying Kangaroo" isn't enough to whip people into a frenzy, there's been the Ralph Fiennes incident and the hair-obsessed baggage handler. On top of that, a recent safety audit of the engineering support in Singapore found problems including control cables that hadn't been replaced when due, plus:

Screws had been left scattered on a wing and the plane had been damaged when a large spare part had been dropped from an overhead crane.

And then last week an Airbus flew from Manila to Sydney without any emergency oxygen, though fortunately there were no passengers on board: just the staff were at risk. Still think you wanna fly Qantas, Rainman?

[Photo: Skazama]

Related Stories:
· Qantas Safety Breach [SMH]
· Ground Crew's Deadly Bungle [Herald Sun]
· Qantas Is Even Kinkier Than You Thought [Jaunted]