Malaysian-bound aircraft caught up in spate of aviation incidents
TODAY’S AirAsia incident is just the latest in a long line of mishaps to hit aircraft heading towards Malaysia. Is there a problem or are they just plain unlucky?
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A SPATE of incidents involving Malaysia-bound aircraft out of Australia has the national transport safety body stretched to the limit.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau is investigating the latest incident involving an AirAsia X A330, in addition to last week’s engine shutdown off Western Australia, also involving an AirAsia X A330.
An ATSB spokesman said flight D7207 from the Gold Coast was being treated as engine failure, until further evidence was gathered.
A statement from AirAsia X blamed Monday night’s incident on birdstrike as the aircraft left Gold Coast Airport to fly to Kuala Lumpur.
Plover carcasses are believed to have been found on the runway of Gold Coast airport after the A330 experienced engine issues and vibrations shortly after takeoff, forcing the flight to divert to Brisbane.
An engine issue has been identified as behind last Sunday’s midair drama en route from Perth to KL, with manufacturer Rolls Royce issuing a statement confirming as much.
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Other incidents under investigation by the ATSB include another engine shutdown in an AirAsia X A330 flying from Sydney to Kuala Lumpur on August 16, 2016, and a descent below the minimum safe level at the Gold Coast on September 11 last year.
In relation to the August 16 incident, the ATSB noted that the completion of a draft report had been delayed by “competing priorities and workload of the investigator in charge”.
Investigations completed in recent months related to a taxiing incident in Melbourne on September 9, 2016 — again involving an AirAsia X A330 and a collision with an aerobridge at Melbourne Airport on March 31, 2016 involving a Malaysia Airlines A330.
Then there was the matter of March 10, 2015, in which an AirAsia X pilot received incorrect flight data for a trip from Sydney to KL, and the plane had to be guided by Air Traffic Control to Melbourne.
In addition to the unfortunate spate of incidents, Malaysia Airlines was the unfortunate victim of an attempted hijacking on a flight from Melbourne to Kuala Lumpur on May 31. Manodh Marks, 25, of Sri Lanka was charged with endangering the safety of an aircraft and making false threats after allegedly screaming he had a bomb, and waving around a device that was merely a speaker.
Victorian police revealed Marks had been released from a psychiatric facility that day and bought a plane ticket before boarding the flight.
It was another blow for Malaysia Airlines which has struggled to regain the confidence of Australian travellers since the 2014 twin tragedies of MH370 and MH17.
Federal Government statistics show Malaysia Airlines suffered a 30.5 per cent decrease in passengers in and out of Australia in 2016.
In contrast AirAsia X enjoyed strong growth in the last year, increasing Australian passenger numbers by 34.8 per cent to 1.45 million.
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