Poor maintenance to blame for Qantas incident claims pilot - Brief Article

Airline Industry Information, March 23, 2000

AIRLINE INDUSTRY INFORMATION-(C)1997-2000 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD

A pilot for Australia's Qantas Airways has blamed poor maintenance for a 1999 incident in which crew and passengers were forced to wear oxygen masks during a domestic flight from Sydney to Melbourne.

Passengers onboard the affected Boeing 767 aircraft began to suffer from fumes caused by cleaning fluid residue in an air conditioning duct. This could have had catastrophic results because the crew had begun to feel dizzy and light headed because of the residue.

The complaint of lax maintenance was made in a report to airline executives by the captain of the flight according to The Australian newspaper.

A spokesperson for Qantas said that none of the fumes 'would have caused any health problems even though they were unpleasant' and indicated that the wearing of the oxygen masks was a standard precautionary procedure for the airline when staff notice fumes in the cockpit.

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