Qantas crack crisis: A THIRD plane is found with damage on its wing as engineers call for the airline to ground its 737s until they are fixed
- Qantas is carrying out urgent checks on 33 planes with more than 22,000 cycles
- The cracks were found on the ‘pickle fork’ of a Boeing 737 during maintenance
- The reparation cost is set to cost the airline an estimated $40,000 per plane
Engineers continue to call for Qantas to ground its 737 fleet after a third plane was found with damage to its wing.
Qantas has been checking 33 of its Boeing 737s after cracks were discovered on the wing of one plane on Wednesday.
The airline confirmed to Daily Mail Australia on Friday that three of its planes had been found to have a hairline crack on the pickle fork – the part which attaches the body to the wing.
Those planes have been removed from service for repair.
Qantas are initiating immediate checks on 33 planes after cracks were found during routine maintenance (pictured: Qantas stock image)
The damage is part of a global issue, which has seen the US Federal Aviation Administration earlier this month order airlines to check any 737s that had completed more than 30,000 take-offs and landings, known as cycles, for cracks.
The planes had all completed around 27,000 cycles. Any aircraft with more than 22,600 cycles was inspected, in line with advice from regulators.
The airline operates 75 Boeing 737 aircraft in total.
The spokesman said Qantas is working with Civil Aviation Safety Authority and Boeing to resolve the issue, which involves some complex repair work.
All three planes are expected to return to service before the end of the year. The company will aim to minimise customer disruption while these are out of service.
Qantas Domestic chief executive Andrew David said they have gone above what was required to check their aircraft well ahead of schedule.
‘We would never fly an aircraft that wasn’t safe. Even where these hairline cracks are present they’re not an immediate risk, which is clear from the fact the checks were not required for at least seven months.
Qantas will continue to monitor aircraft that are in scope of the airworthiness directive as inspections fall due.
The urgent inspection came after the company found one example of cracking in an aircraft with just under 27,000 cycles on Wednesday.
Qantas’ head of engineering Chris Snook said the calls to ground the fleet were irresponsible as safety regulators require the checks to be done over the next seven months
The Australian Licenced Aircraft Engineers Association on Thursday said a second Qantas 737 was found overnight with a ‘cracked primary wing structure’, sparking calls for the entire fleet to be grounded.
‘These aircraft should be kept safe on the ground until urgent inspections are completed,’ Australian Licenced Aircraft Engineers Association secretary Steve Purvinas said in a statement.
Mr David said those comments were irresponsible and completely misrepresented the facts.
‘Those comments were especially disappointing given the fantastic job our engineers have done to inspect these aircraft well ahead of schedule, and the priority they give to safety every day of the week,’ he said.