QANTAS pilots forget to lower landing gear...

[wamdue]

is it just me or does it seem to other people that there seems to be more stories about Qantas planes breaking or pilots forgetting to put the landing gear down, than there is the other airline?

 

[Marc]

is it just me or does it seem to other people that there seems to be more stories about Qantas planes breaking or pilots forgetting to put the landing gear down, than there is the other airline?

That's a good question - some will say the Australian media has a hardon against QANTAS and will blow everything out of proportion.

Others say it's QANTAS standards are slipping and slipping badly as cost custting measures are increased (at the same time it's got some of the highest paid Aviation execs in the world - Google Geoff Dixon for more information). They've off shored a lot of their heavy maintanence work and some are arguing the work isn't upto the standards of Australian LAMEs.

 

[aftermath]

Slow news day in Australia? A plane not landing without its gear down makes the news?

 

[Marc]

Slow news day in Australia? A plane not landing without its gear down makes the news?

I think a plane making up a wheels up landing would be news in most countries especially when a) it's your national carrier, b) it came about because the crew forgot a fundemantal part of the landing procedure and c) there's been a lot of scrutiny in recent times about the massive drop in standards by QANTAS d) Australia has never had any fatal accidents involving airliners in the jet age despite some recent near disasters such as this incident or the Air Emirates A340 that suffered a tail strike at Melbourne Airport and was so low at the end of the take off run it collected the lights at the end of the runway.

 

[aftermath]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the plane landed with the wheels down. Systems in place worked, pilots were alerted to the incorrect configuration, a go-around was initiated and the plane landed normally. Still don't understand what the story is here.

 

[Lindley]

Well, it didn't make a gear-up landing though. The backup system functioned as intended.

 

[Marc]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the plane landed with the wheels down. Systems in place worked, pilots were alerted to the incorrect configuration, a go-around was initiated and the plane landed normally. Still don't understand what the story is here.

okay I should of say almost.

unlike the pilots in the following

http://www.avherald.com/h?article=40da3e28/0000&opt=0

Note the GPWS have been turned off.

 

[PKTrekGirl]

Am I the only one who thought about Dustin Hoffman refusing to get on the plane after this?

Definitely. Quantas is getting a blackmark in Ray's notebook right next to "Grabbed, and pulled, and hurt my neck in 1988."

I wonder if Qantas paid the producers of Rain Man anything for that scene?

No kidding.

To this day, I still carry this vague (and completely unsupportable) notion that QUANTAS is a super-safe airline...all because of a line in a movie two decades ago.

*looks at watch*

Woops! Five minutes to Wopner!

 

[Marc]

Am I the only one who thought about Dustin Hoffman refusing to get on the plane after this?

Definitely. Quantas is getting a blackmark in Ray's notebook right next to "Grabbed, and pulled, and hurt my neck in 1988."

I wonder if Qantas paid the producers of Rain Man anything for that scene?

No kidding.

To this day, I still carry this vague (and completely unsupportable) notion that QUANTAS is a super-safe airline...all because of a line in a movie two decades ago.

*looks at watch*

Woops! Five minutes to Wopner!

as I said up thread - they've had some close calls but they're still the only airline in the world not to have a fatal accident (or lost a hull) since the jet age began in the late 50s/early 60s

 

[Lindley]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hMn7ZweF6s