Cracks to keep Qantas jets out for weeks
Hairline cracks in a critical aircraft component will keep three Qantas 737s on the ground at the busiest time of the year.
Hairline cracks in a critical aircraft component will keep three Qantas 737s on the ground at the busiest time of the year, with replacement parts not immediately available.
Inspections of 33 Boeing 737-800s in the Qantas fleet identified three with a single crack in the “pickle forks” that help attach the plane’s fuselage to the wings.
Although the cracks were not considered an immediate threat to safety, Qantas said all three had been taken out of service, with “complex repairs” expected to be completed by the end of the year.
The inspections were undertaken in line with a directive from the Federal Aviation Administration that was issued after cracks were discovered in another airline’s 737-800 during maintenance in China.
Only aircraft with a high number of landings on the clock were recommended for inspection, and Qantas Domestic chief executive Andrew David defended the decision not to inspect the entire 737 fleet.
“The reason we can all fly safely around the world is because there is a safety management system that works when these airworthiness directives are issued and all airlines comply to those,” Mr David said.
“If there is a belief with the low-cycle aircraft that there could be these hairline cracks, the regulators around the world will decide if that inspection regime has to change.”
Virgin Australia has inspected 19 of its 73 Boeing 737-800s, and found no issues, but worldwide about 50 aircraft have been grounded as a result of pickle fork cracks, representing a 5 per cent failure rate across the global fleet.
Intended to be a lifetime component, the pickle forks were supposed to endure 90,000 landings of the 737-800.
Instead, cracks were appearing at the 35,000 mark and, in the case of the Qantas aircraft, after 27,000 landings.
Swinburne University Aviation Department deputy chairman Stephen Fankhauser said even with “lifetime” components, fatigue was a fact of life for ageing aircraft, highlighting the importance of regular maintenance.
But he said it should not be cause for concern for travellers.
“Those aircraft are designed to be damage-tolerant and even if there are cracks in the structure it won’t lead to a catastrophic failure,” Mr Fankhauser said.
“But over time, if not rectified, those cracks do grow and as they grow the structure becomes progressively weaker, so left unchecked it is dangerous.”
A Boeing spokesman would not say if the manufacturer would cover the estimated $400,000 cost of replacing the pickle forks, but said investigations were under way into the cause of the issue.
The new difficulties compound the troubles facing the US manufacturer, which has faced tumbling profits, federal scrutiny and calls for its chief executive to resign after deadly crashes involving the 737 MAX, the successor aircraft for the 737NG.
Qantas head of engineering Christopher Snook said Boeing was developing a process and a kit for repairs, which would be undertaken at the airline’s Brisbane heavy maintenance facility. “Boeing have done a repair scheme trial in California and it’s taken 11 days to do the pickle fork in and out, and about a month to do the entire process,” Mr Snook said.
Mr David was expecting the planes to be out of action “through to the end of the calendar year” and promised to minimise any inconvenience to customers.
A spokesman for Australia’s aviation regulator said the industry response was about “nipping a potential safety problem in the bud by taking proactive action now”. But there were calls for Qantas to ground its entire 737 fleet until checks were complete.
“These aircraft should be kept safe on the ground until urgent inspections are completed,” an engineers’ union representative, Steve Purvinas, said.
Qantas described the call to ground its 737 fleet as “completely irresponsible”.
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