Qantas safety record
Agence France-Presse
First Posted 22:39:00 07/25/2008
SYDNEY -- Australia's Qantas Airways has never lost a jet plane to an accident but there have been a number of scares involving the iconic airline known as the "Flying Kangaroo."
Its record was emphasized in the 1988 movie "Rainman" when an autistic character played by Dustin Hoffman insisted on flying with the airline because it had never had a fatal jet crash.
• July 25, 2008 -- A Qantas Boeing 747 carrying 346 passengers and 19 crew from London to Melbourne makes an emergency landing in Manila after a dramatic mid-air rupture leaves a gaping hole in its fuselage.
• February 2008 -- A Qantas 717 with 84 passengers on board sustains what the Australian Transport Safety Bureau describes as "substantial damage" when it lands heavily in Darwin.
• January 2008 -- A Qantas 747 loses its main electrical power as it prepares to land in Bangkok and is forced to rely on a back-up system.
• August 2007 -- Qantas reveals an unqualified mechanical engineer conducted safety checks on more than 1,000 international flights over a 12 month period at Sydney Airport despite not having a license to do so.
• April 2000 -- Part of the undercarriage of a 747 collapses as the plane prepares to take off from Rome airport for Australia.
• September 1999 -- A 747 with 410 people on board skids off the runway after landing in Bangkok in heavy rain. The airline reportedly spends US$97 million repairing the aircraft so it does not have to be written off.
• Qantas and its subsidiaries were operating a fleet of 216 aircraft servicing 140 destinations in 37 countries as of December 2007, according to the company's website.
• The website also declares: "Qantas' reputation in the field of aviation safety is recognized worldwide. The Qantas brand is built on the group's strong flight safety record and safety is at the core of all group activities."
Source: Australian Broadcasting Corporation, News Ltd, Qantas websites
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