Qantas Plane 'Guided to Safety'

Air Safety Week, Nov 10, 2008

A Qantas Boeing 747-400 had to be guided by another airliner after its weather radar failed, in the latest of a series of mishaps to affect the carrier.

Qantas officials said an Air New Zealand crew provided weather information to the Qantas jumbo jet, as the two aircraft made the trip across the Pacific Ocean from the U.S. on Oct. 29.

The faulty weather radar was discovered on Flight QF12 a few hours into the journey from Los Angeles. The jetliner was en route to Sydney, but diverted to Auckland in order to follow the Air New Zealand airliner. The faulty radar equipment was repaired in Auckland, and the flight arrived in Sydney four hours late.

In July, a Qantas Boeing 747 flying from Hong Kong to Melbourne was forced to make an emergency landing after an oxygen cylinder exploded, blowing a large hole in the fuselage.

Air safety investigators have found oxygen cylinders from the same manufacturing batch as the one that exploded on a Qantas Boeing 747. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) will examine the cylinders for any evidence of manufacturing flaws.

"We have tried to locate cylinders that were made in the same batch as that particular cylinder. In recent times, we have identified a number of these cylinders, six of which are currently on their way to Canberra," said officials.

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