Aussie airline could face total closure

CASA director of aviation safety Mick Toller

In this story: Ansett disputes need for grounding Borrowing planes Air New Zealand is parent Cracks in engine mountings RELATED SITES

By CNN's Grant Holloway and Geoff Hiscock

SYDNEY, Australia -- Australia's civil aviation regulator has begun safety inspections of Ansett Airline's 767 fleet of 10 aircraft, warning the airline could be shut down completely within three weeks.

The Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) will issue Ansett with a notice on April 20 giving the airline 14 days to show why its approval to operate should not be withdrawn.

AUDIO Ansett warned "the whole airline" could be shut down. CNN's Kirsty Alfredson speaks with CASA's Peter Gibson. 2.08MB/3:17min AIFF or WAV sound    QUOTE "It is clear there has been a lack of proper control over the planning of maintenance, over the control of critical documents and the execution of maintenance." - Civil Aviation Safety Authority of Australia

The authority said Thursday the move to ground the planes followed "repeated failures" by Ansett to properly maintain the aircraft in line with Australian safety standards.

The notice was based on "a pattern of ongoing structural, management and personnel problems", CASA said.

CASA will require detailed proposals from Ansett for reforms to their maintenance areas, particularly the section of the organization that controls maintenance.

"It is clear there has been a lack of proper control over the planning of maintenance, over the control of critical documents and the execution of maintenance," CASA said.

Ansett disputes need for grounding

Air New Zealand-Ansett Australia group president and chief executive officer Gary Toomey said the airline deeply regretted that such a serious step by CASA was necessary.

He said the airline disputed the safety authority's view that confidence in the aircraft and their maintenance could not be sustained.

CASA on Friday said it could be three weeks before all the planes are back in the air.

Already around 35,000 domestic and international travellers have had their Easter holiday plans disrupted as Ansett scrambles to cover for the grounded aircraft. Ansett has 10 Boeing-made 767 planes in a total fleet of 63 aircraft.

Borrowing planes

An Ansett B767-200 taking off from Sydney airport

The besieged airline is borrowing one aircraft from parent company Air New Zealand and is chartering planes from rival Qantas in a bid to make up the shortfall. The company has also pulled one of its 747 planes off its international route to Hong Kong to serve the domestic routes.

Apart from Australia and New Zealand and Hong Kong, Ansett also flies to Indonesia, Japan and Fiji.

The Civil Aviation Safety Authority said Friday two teams of six CASA engineers each had been assembled in Melbourne, Australia, and were now physically inspecting the planes for safety defects.

The engineers would also be examining Ansett's maintenance history records for the planes.

Air New Zealand is parent

CASA spokesman Peter Gibson told CNN it was difficult to say how long the planes would be grounded for, but each plane would take at least two days to thoroughly inspect, meaning it could be three weeks before all planes were flying again.

Ansett, owned by Air New Zealand since June last year, is Australia's second largest airline after Qantas.

CASA's director of aviation safety, Mick Toller, said Thursday the regulator could no longer accept Ansett's assurances that the safety of the 767s could be maintained.

"Safety problems with the 767 fleet keep appearing, the latest having been brought to CASA's attention just this (Thursday) morning," Toller said.

This involved the incorrect stowing of emergency slides on an aircraft last weekend.

"The aircraft operated for more than a day without any of its slides in the operating position. Clearly this was yet another threat to safety," Toller said in a statement released by CASA.

Cracks in engine mountings

Ansett grounded its seven early-model 767-200 aircraft on Monday after a maintenance check revealed hairline cracks in the mountings which connect the engines to the wings.

Ansett found four of the aircraft had the cracks, one of which has now been repaired.

Manufacturer Boeing issued a service bulletin on the engine mountings of the 767-200 model in March last year, but it did not recommend to the U.S. Federal Aviation Authority that the service check be mandatory.

Ansett did not undertake the service check until last week.

On December 23 last year Ansett grounded six of its jets because routine maintenance had not been undertaken.

Boeing spokeswoman Debbie Heathers said Wednesday that Seattle-based company did not have the authority to make Ansett comply with its service checks.

Ansett Australia
Civil Aviation Safety Authority

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.