SYDNEY (AFP) — Australian civil aviation officials on Sunday announced a special review of Qantas after three mid-air dramas in the space of two weeks.
The investigation by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) will take place over the next two weeks, spokesman Peter Gibson said.
"We have no evidence to suggest there are problems within Qantas, but we think it's prudent and wise to go in with a new special team and take an additional look at a range of operational issues within Qantas.
"Clearly, there's been a number of incidents recently and it's important that we go in and double check and make sure that all the standards are being maintained."
Qantas prides itself on its extremely good safety record, having never lost a jet plane to an accident, but recent incidents including a mid-air blast that ripped a large hole in the fuselage have dented its image.
Gibson told AFP the review would concentrate on high-level systems and procedures within the company and would be headed by a senior CASA official, Mick Quinn.
He said he did not believe the airline had ever been the subject of such a review before.
The latest incident occurred on Saturday, when a Qantas Boeing 767 bound for Manila was forced to turn back to Sydney after developing a leak of hydraulic fluid while in the air.
On July 25, a Qantas Boeing 747-400 en route to Melbourne from Hong Kong made an emergency landing in Manila after a blast believed to have been caused by an exploding oxygen cylinder ripped a large hole in its fuselage.
Last Monday, a Qantas 737-800 was forced to return to Adelaide after a landing gear door failed to retract.
The incidents follow a series of media reports in Australia about concerns about the quality of maintenance amid an increase in the amount of such work outsourced to other countries.
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