Audit: Qantas safe but needs maintenance

Sydney -- Airplanes flown by Australia's Qantas Airlines are safe, but the carrier needs to shape up its maintenance performance, authorities say.

Australia's Civil Aviation Safety Authority, CASA, audited Qantas after one of its flights was forced to make a July emergency landing in Manila when an oxygen tank exploded and blew out a portion of the fuselage. There also have been other delays and cancellations due to engine problems.

The group's probe found that flying Qantas is safe, but it is sometimes deficient in maintaining its fleet, the Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported Monday.

"Qantas is a safe airline and CASA has no doubt about that, if it wasn't a safe airline, we'd be taking a lot more stringent action under our regulations to put it on the ground, so having said that, it is a safe airline," CASA's Mick Quinn told the broadcaster.

But the group also found the airline sometimes fails to perform up to its own maintenance standards. Qantas says it will work with authorities to fix that.
Australian Transport Minister Anthony Albanese told reporters CASA will perform two more audits of some Qantas planes and service records, as well as study the full sweep of its maintenance procedures.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International.