Jet crashes are rare in Australia, but one happened last night at Norfolk Island and no-one in the media noticed. All six people on board the CareFlight medical evacuation jet have survived
Aviation safety
Credibility of Qantas on line over “unusual vibrations” aka a flaming engine
The scorched engine at the centre of the latest allegations about safety standards at Qantas is now being examined by the independent air safety investigator, and the credibility of two unions, the airline’s management and the air safety regulation enforce are all on the line.
Qantas 767 aborts 700 feet above tarmac and wheels up
Last week, just 700 feet from landing, Qantas pilots were forced to abort a landing when it was realised that the wheels had not been lowered. It was a close call for a Qantas and the Boeing 767 is to be investigated,.
Safety screwed over wrong washer
The aircraft engineers union is pursuing claims that Qantas avoided a detailed safety investigation of a 747 last year, which could have caused some of its engines to fall off in flight.
AF447 crash: Air France traps itself with leaked memo
The latest response by Air France management to the June crash of flight AF447 is a joke, says Ben Sandilands: a “strongly worded” memo telling pilots to be “more vigilant” about safety procedures.
Virgin’s wheel of fire at the hub of wider problems
Virgin Blue lawyers are crawling over the words of aircraft engineers union federal secretary Steve Purvinas like ants over road kill this morning, but what is really going on?
US lawyer sues Airbus (and everyone else) over Air France disaster
A US lawyer is suing everyone who made anything that was part of the Air France Airbus flight that crashed into the mid Atlantic in June, reports Ben Sandilands.
Harsh US airline penalties highlight lack of them here
Aviation safety regulation in this country is incompetent and ethically corrupt, and significant ministerial oversight hasn’t existed for at least 50 years.
AF447 disaster: was the radar really working?
There is one strange but not necessarily consequential omission in the official interim report into the June’s Air France disaster, says Ben Sandilands: nowhere does it confirm that the weather radar was switched on.
Pilots challenge Air France with their AF 447 crash ‘truth’
Two Air France pilots have challenged Airbus and the French air crash investigators to face up to critical factors in the June 1 crash of flight AF447 in the mid-Atlantic, which killed all 228 people on board.
The cold, hard facts about the Kokoda crash
The stark details in the preliminary official report on August’s Kokoda plane crash run contrary to many previous rumours and reports, writes Ben Sandilands.
Boeing 787 no dream for Qantas
Qantas are yet to say anything in response to the serious issues involving the Boeing 787 Dreamliner program, although they have 50 Dreamliners on firm order.
Kokoda crash: sitting out the clouds in PNG
Airlines PNG, which crashed a Twin Otter carrying 13 people including nine Australians near Isurava on the Kokoda track yesterday, already had a shocking safety record, writes Ben Sandilands.
World leaders must act on airline safety
After a year of airline disasters, it’s time for a higher standard of airline safety to be enacted and enforced around the globe.
So you survived a plane crash — now what?
Stay put. The biggest mistake stranded victims make is trying to swim. Body heat naturally creates a warm envelope of water around your person.
Fire on a Jetstar flight put out textbook style
If you are going to have a fire on an airliner at cruising altitude, having it right beside the first officer who is already waiting with a fire extinguisher is the best place for it.
AF447 crash and the culture of computerised and automated flight systems
The airlines and safety authorities need to ask if the culture of professional piloting is being degraded inadvertently by an automated approach to operating procedures, or unduly influenced by pressure to fly the most direct route available.
Dick Smith: Please stop asking me about Qantas!
A rather unusual media release from Dick Smith lobbed into journalists’ inboxes this morning…
