Some early surprises have emerged from the black box flight recorders that have been read at the ATSB headquarters in Canberra.
The flight data recorder shows that the initial uncommanded climb above the cruise altitude of 37,000 feet was 200 feet, not 300 as previously indicated in briefings. The first dive was 650 feet in 20 [...]
Monthly Archives: October 2008
QF 72 made shorter but nasty dives
October 9, 2008 – 5:54 pm
No it wasn’t a laptop or a Blackberry or an iPhone, or…
October 9, 2008 – 4:35 pm
There is an absurd rumor going around that Qantas is going to confiscate smart phones and computers at the gate to avoid the electronic contamination that some other rumors say is being investigated as the cause of the QF 72 accident.
Actually Qantas and many other airlines are in the process of cashing in on passenger [...]
Some important questions about QF 72
October 9, 2008 – 4:08 pm
In today’s Crikey some important questions about the QF 72 incident are highlighted.
They may or may not prove to be material to the accident investigation but the records associated with aircraft maintenance are always an important part of the investigative process.
Qantas hasn’t yet answered our question about these possible issues and has indicated it [...]
QF 72-an ‘irregularity’ at 37,000 feet, but why?
October 8, 2008 – 1:06 pm
The ATSB has described how an ‘irregularity’ in the elevator control system hit QF 72 while it was in level flight at 37,000 feet over WA yesterday shortly before its emergency landing at Learmonth with dozens of injured passengers.
In lay terms the elevators are control surfaces on the tail of the jet which [...]
How far down, how quickly and why?
October 8, 2008 – 6:16 am
At this stage the general public and the investigators from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau know as much about the QF 72 emergency over WA yesterday as each other. Which is next to nothing in terms of the reasons.
However the ATSB will soon start to get the hard facts together. The cockpit voice recorder and [...]
In-flight upsets
October 7, 2008 – 5:45 pm
One of the toughest tests for airline pilots is recovering from a mid-air ‘upset’.
The pilots flying QF 72, the Qantas A330 on this afternoon’s Singapore-Perth run passed that test when a violent upset injured dozens of passengers and some cabin crew and caused an emergency landing at Learmonth.
It isn’t known what caused the incident, but [...]
Earth to Albanese-AirServices needs to be fixed now
October 7, 2008 – 12:14 pm
Virgin Blue has always been good at publicity stunts, but its bill to AirServices Australia for half a million dollars because it couldn’t deliver full air traffic control at Sydney Airport last Friday is not a joke.
The Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Anthony Albanese, has been told by all of the major airlines that the [...]
Stanley Brogden 1913-2008
October 6, 2008 – 8:10 am
Stanley Brogden who reported aviation in Australia for more than half a century has died in Melbourne aged 94.
Stanley grew up in a world where aviation arrived before radio for our parents and grand parents. He knew many of the early adventurers and entrepreneurs of aviation. He saw them change the world, and from the [...]
Virgin’s Pacific blues
October 2, 2008 – 5:46 pm
V Australia’s inaugural trans Pacific flights between Sydney and Los Angeles have been pushed back from 15 December to 28 February because of a strike that has shut down the Boeing assembly line indefinitely.
It needs the first two of its order for up to six Boeing 777-300ER jets (plus one on lease through IAG subsidiary [...]
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