QANTAS NAMED WORLD’S SAFEST AIRLINE?
QANTAS has been named the world’s safest airline, after a
year when fatal air accidents soared above the 10-year average.In a report published by AirlineRatings.com on Tuesday night, Qantas was lauded for amassing “an extraordinary record of firsts” in safety and operations over its 94-year history.
The report comes after what was “in no doubt” a bad year for
airline safety, AirlineRatings.com said, adding 2014 included some of the
industry’s most tragic and bizarre incidents.AirlineRatings.com said the high number of deaths came despite the number of accidents for 2014 being at a record low 21 — one for every 1.3 million flights.
“Two of the crashes last year — MH370 and MH17 — were
unprecedented in modern times and claimed 537 lives,” the report says.“Flashback 50 years and there were a staggering 87 crashes killing 1,597 when airlines carried only 141 million passengers — five per cent of today’s number.”
Qantas, which AirlineRatings.com said was now also accepted
as the world’s most experienced airline, was praised as the leader in terms of
real-time monitoring of its engines across its fleet using satellite
communications.“Doing so allows the airline to detect problems before they become a major safety issue,” the report says.
Making up the remainder of the top 10 in alphabetical order
were Air New Zealand, Cathay Pacific, British Airways, Emirates, Etihad
Airways, EVA Air, Finnair, Lufthansa and Singapore Airlines.Qantas, which has a fatality-free record in the jet era, was described as a leader in the development of an avionics system that provides a direct data link communication between the pilot and the air traffic controller, as well as the development of flight data recorders to monitor plane and crew performance.
The report rates 449 airlines, including low-cost carriers, with Jetstar making the top 10 of the later group.
The top 10 low-cost carriers in alphabetical order were Aer Lingus, Alaska Airlines, Icelandair, Jetstar, Jetblue, Kulula.com, Monarch Airlines, Thomas Cook, TUI Fly and Westjet.
Source: The Ausrtralian
CHEETAH DELAY THE ADELAIDE - BOUND QANTAS FLIGHT IN DOWN UNDER
MELBOURNE, Australia - Passengers on a Qantas flight were dismayed Wednesday when the pilot reported difficulties in getting one passenger on board - a cheetah."We're sorry for the delay, but we're having some problems loading the cheetah," the pilot reportedly told passengers on board the domestic flight as it sat on the tarmac at Melbourne airport.
Qantas said the Adelaide-bound flight was delayed for 36 minutes after ground staff had problems loading the pallet carrying the big cat, which was bound for a South Australian zoo.- "It was nothing to do with the cheetah being upset," a spokeswoman for the airline told AFP. "It was purely just loading the pallet onto the aircraft."
The Australian airline, which has been in the news lately after an engine blast on one its long-haul Airbus A380s grounded its superjumbo fleet for three weeks, said the animal was placed on the next flight to Adelaide.Qantas said that it was regularly called upon to transport zoo attractions such as the cheetah.
"We move tens of thousands of animals each year. We've recently moved some fairy penguins; we've moved a hippo, gorilla, crocodile, Tasmanian devils. We move livestock." the spokeswoman said.- Asked whether the airline, known as the "flying kangaroo" had ever moved its bounding namesake, the spokeswoman replied: "We probably have."
QANTAS AIRWAYS SUSPENDED 6 FLIGHTS A380s AFTER ENGINE FAILURE
Qantas Airways suspended flights of its Airbus A380s on Thursday after one of the aircraft was forced to land in Singapore with engine trouble, one of the most serious incidents for the world’s largest passenger plane in its three years of commercial flight.
The Airbus A380, which had originated in London and was carrying 459 people, suffered trouble with one of its four engines shortly after it had left the island state en route for Sydney. Australian officials said no one on board was injured.
Initial media reports said the plane had crashed after an explosion over the Indonesian island of Batam, near Singapore.
The reports sent the Australian carrier’s shares lower but they later recovered. No fatal Qantas accidents
Source: Reuters
Qantas, which operates six A380s, said it was grounding the aircraft pending a full investigation.- So far there have been no fatal incidents involving A380s since they were launched in 2005 amid great fanfare as the greenest, quietest — as well as the biggest — jetliner.
- Earlier this year, one of the planes operated by Qantas burst two tyres when landing in Sydney, and in September 2009 an A380 was forced to turn around in mid-flight and return to Paris.
- Qantas A380s use Rolls-Royce engines. This particular plane had Trent 900 engines and was built in 2008.
Initial media reports said the plane had crashed after an explosion over the Indonesian island of Batam, near Singapore.The reports sent the Australian carrier’s shares lower but they later recovered. No fatal Qantas accidents
- Singapore’s Channel NewsAsia said the plane circled Singapore to burn fuel before making an emergency landing.
- A Reuters reporter said the plane was surrounded by emergency vehicles but there was no sign of any smoke or fire. One of the four nacelles structures that house the engines — was missing and there appeared to be charring around that area of the plane.
- Indonesian TV showed pictures of a small amount of debris on the ground near Batam airport which it said belonged to the Qantas plane.
- Qantas has never had a fatal accident. A mid-air explosion blew a minivan-size hole in the side of a Qantas 747-400 in 2008 which Australian air safety investigators blamed on an oxygen bottle.
Thursday’s incident came just days before Qantas was due to celebrate its 90th anniversary with a special open day in Brisbane.- The A380 has been bedevilled with production delays. More than 200 orders have been placed for the aircraft, and 37 are in operation worldwide, according to Airbus. Qantas said the incident did not impact its standing orders for more A380s.
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