about flying with Qantas.
Jet flies in with 'a bit missing'By Tory Shepherd and Sam Riches
January 18, 2007 01:00am
THE safety of Qantas passenger flights again is in question after a plane from Perth to Adelaide was given approval to fly with "a bit missing".
A passenger, who has worked in the aviation industry and did not want to be named, said a fibreglass cover on the wing was missing on flight QF592 on Tuesday night.
"It scared the hell out of me. It gave me sweaty palms," he said.
"I was seriously thinking about getting my wife and kid and getting off the plane.
"You just don't take risks."
The man said the cover, a 2m-long piece, called a cowling, reduced wind resistance and protected the engine. He said he asked two flight attendants what was going on. One told him it had been like that for a week.
The pilot told passengers not to worry about it. "There are meant to be certain specifications," the passenger said.
"If a maintenance release is not done, (the plane) shouldn't fly."
He also said electrical wiring to cabin lights had been missing a protective covering.
A Qantas spokesman confirmed the plane was missing the cover but said it was "safe and certified".
"The aircraft sustained damage to an aerodynamic fairing," he said. "This had been removed for repair and the aircraft is safe and was certified (to fly) with the fairing removed."
It was reported on January 10 a Qantas flight with 408 passengers on board, travelling from Singapore to Frankfurt, flew with a hole torn in its side in March last year.
The hole, caused by a tyre blowing on the aircraft, was 3m long.
Passenger Karl Dunbar, a Perth businessman, said he "could have crawled through the hole".
Qantas was forced to deny a cover-up and allegations it misled air safety authorities.
Boss Geoff Dixon said in relation to the March incident "there was no risk to passengers or crew".
Aviation Safety Investigation deputy director Julian Walsh said the Australian Transport Safety Board had been notified of the missing component but the aircraft had been given an engineering authorisation to operate.