AUSTRALIAN LICENSED AIRCRAFT ENGINEERS ASSOCIATION
Media Release
Tuesday, 20 October 2009
Urgent inspections needed on all Virgin aircraft, union says
The Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association (ALAEA) has called for
urgent inspections on all Virgin aircraft today.
The union’s call follows revelations that a wheel on a Virgin aircraft disintegrated on
landing at Melbourne airport today.
The ALAEA said the incident demonstrated the urgent need for inspections across
Virgin’s fleet to ensure the safety of staff and passengers.
“It’s fortunate that today’s incident did not result in any serious injury but it
demonstrates the urgent need for safety inspections across the all virgin’s planes,”
ALAEA Federal Secretary, Steve Purvinas said.
Today’s incident comes two days before Virgin intends to roll out a new maintenance
system that extends the period between weekly aircraft inspections to 15 days.
“When the wheels are regularly falling off your aircraft, the last thing you want to do
is program less maintenance.” Mr Purvinas said.
“Being a low cost carrier doesn’t mean the airline can skimp on its maintenance,
Australian travellers deserve an assurance that they will arrive safely to their
destinations.”
Ends.
For further comment call Steve Purvinas on 0400 071 505 or ALAEA President Paul
Cousins on 0419 637 862.
NEWS 
