Fed: Ansett 767 undercarriage overdue for work

AAP General News (Australia)
04-21-2001
Fed: Ansett 767 undercarriage overdue for work

SYDNEY, April 21 AAP - Even as the first of Ansett's grounded Boeing 767s took off
yesterday, Civil Aviation Safety Authority inspectors had uncovered another maintenance
problem in one of the airline's grounded planes, The Weekend Australian reports today.

Part of the landing gear on a 767 was more than two months overdue for replacement.

The find, whilst not affecting CASA's decision not to serve a show-cause notice on
Ansett, casts doubt on how long it will take to get the remaining 767s airborne.

Yesterday, Ansett promised to totally overhaul its maintenance and management practices
and received a last-minute reprieve from CASA on the show-cause notice.

If issued, the notice would have given the airline two weeks to prove it should be
allowed to keep flying.

The aviation safety watchdog cleared the first of the grounded 767s yesterday, which
then flew from Melbourne to Sydney.

CASA could not say how long it would take to get the whole fleet back in the air, but
predicted a slow process, spokesman Peter Gibson said.

"It comes down to documentation," he told The Australian. "That's why we took so long
on the first one; we weren't prepared to skip any part of it."

Ansett chief executive Gary Toomey said the show-cause notice, had it been issued,
would have had a significant impact on the airline.

Mr Toomey also said Ansett would sell the fleet of 10 767s, initially leasing new aircraft
and eventually buying new planes to replace them.

AAP jwb/rs

KEYWORD: ANSETT OVERDUE

2001 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.