In Reply to: when you say again.... posted by stormy on Sunday, 13. January 2008 at 21:32 Bali Time:
AIR safety authorities have ordered checks on black box flight recorders and damaged wing parts from a second OzJet flight following separate mid-air incidents two days apart.
The incidents involved Boeing 737-200 aircraft which developed severe vibrations after wing malfunctions. The planes still were grounded yesterday, one in Port Moresby, the other in Noumea.
In the first incident on Saturday, about 100 passengers on Brisbane to Norfolk Island Flight 334 were told to don lifejackets and prepare for an ocean landing after the plane started rocking violently. Although the aircraft landed safely after being redirected to Noumea, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau has launched an investigation into the incident, which left passengers fearing for their lives. Queenslander John McSwan, who was sitting at an emergency exit on the flight, said he had been drilled by cabin crew on how to remove the door if the plane ditched.
"I don't think there was a soul on the plane whose life didn't flash in front of their eyes, that's for sure," he said. A safety bureau spokeswoman said investigators had ordered the plane's flight data recorder and damaged wing parts to be returned to Australia. Photos of the plane in Noumea show damage to a leading edge slat, on the front of the right wing.
In a separate OzJet incident on New Year's Eve, a Port Moresby to Brisbane plane returned to Papua New Guinea after developing severe vibrations. In that case, the safety bureau said the problem involved a different wing part, known as an elevator trim tab.
Australian authorities are liaising with their PNG counterparts about the investigation into that incident.
A Civil Aviation Safety Authority spokesman said it was aware of both OzJet incidents and was looking into the maintenance history of the failed parts. "We want to make sure that there's no pattern emerging here," he said.
OzJet outsources maintenance involving its planes.
The airline's chief executive officer Willie McNeil said OzJet staff had followed standard operating procedures and training.