Naval base could have caused Qantas plunge

SIGNALS from a naval communications base at Exmouth in Western Australia may have been responsible for last week’s mid-air emergency.Air safety investigators say they will look into claims signals from the base may have interfered with the Qantas Airbus’s computer, causing the plane to plunge 650 feet in seconds, injuring more than 70 passengers and crew.The Australian Transport Safety Bureau has already found that the Airbus A330-300’s air data computer – or inertial reference system – sent incorrect information to the flight control computer causing the autopilot to disconnect.The aircraft was cruising at 37,000 feet when the fault occurred, causing it to descend up to 650 feet in seconds. More than 70 people were injured when the plane, carrying 303 passengers and 10 crew, suddenly lost altitude, hurling people around the cabin and forcing the pilot to make an emergency landing at Learmonth in Western Australia.

Qantas safe, says aviation watchdog

PASSENGERS should have confidence in Qantas despite two safety incidents in the past four days, the aviation watchdog says.Last Friday a Qantas international jet was forced to make an emergency landing at Manila after a mid-air explosion tore a hole in the plane’s fuselage.

Yesterday a domestic Qantas jet was forced to return to Adelaide after a wheel bay door failed to close.

Neither incident should bring about wider worries, the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA )says.

“We’ve been looking very carefully at Qantas’ safety all throughout this year,” authority spokesman Peter Gibson said.

“We finished a major audit of Qantas only last month and found no significant safety issues.”

Mr Gibson rejected criticism that the authority was too close to the major airlines.

“Certainly CASA is not a partner in aviation safety, that would be entirely inappropriate obviously.
“We’re at arms’ length from Qantas and the major airlines.”