'Buckle up' warning after Qantas mid-air drama
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Buckle up ... passengers disembark after mid-air drama (Channel 7)
The Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) has warned air travellers to keep their seatbelts on wherever possible while on flights, following a mid-air emergency yesterday.
Forty-six people were injured when a Qantas Airbus A330-300 abruptly lost altitude, forcing the pilot to make an emergency landing in Exmouth in the north-west of Western Australia.
Thirteen people were seriously injured and 33 others escaped with minor injuries.
The injured, suffering cuts and broken bones, were flown to Perth by the Royal Flying Doctor Service overnight, and around 300 people arrived in Perth this morning from Exmouth.
CASA spokeswoman Michelle Harris says the incident highlights an important safety issue.
"It serves as a good reminder to keep your seatbelts on at all times during flights, even when the seatbelt signs are off, unless of course you are standing up to go to the toilet or to stretch your legs," she said.
She says dangerous turbulence can arise quickly and unpredictably, which is why airlines remind passengers to keep their seatbelts on wherever possible.
The incident is still under investigation by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, but Ms Harris says the number of injuries may have been lower if more people had worn their seatbelts.
She says she is confident airlines give sufficient reminders about the importance of seatbelts.
'People flying everywhere'
Passengers have spoken of their terror aboard QF 72, with stories of people being pinned to the ceiling as the aircraft plunged thousands of feet in a matter of seconds.
Doreen Bishop, on her first trip to Australia from Oxford, England, says she feared for her life when the plane dropped.
"It just went like, thousands of feet down, I don't know how many, but it just fell forever and there was people just flying everywhere, there was steel flying everywhere," she said.
Passenger Mark Bell says many people flew out of their seats.
"The poor little kid next to us, we watched him hit the ceiling and sit there for about three seconds, until his dad dragged him back into his seat," he said.
One passenger, who was woken from his sleep by the loss in altitude, was asked by ABC Radio's AM whether he was wearing a seatbelt.
"Well, no I didn't at the time, I just woke up and then the plane just went straight down," he said.
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Comments (29)
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Roland:
08 Oct 2008 12:58:15pm
I feel for everyone hurt or lucky to escape with minor injuries, but flying in a plane is like traveling in a car...
Buckle up!Agree (0) Alert moderator
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Viv:
08 Oct 2008 1:04:34pm
Roland, you sum it up perfectly.
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Pen Pal:
08 Oct 2008 1:04:18pm
I'm pleased for the passengers, crew and Qantas that the jet landed safely.
To those injured, take heart, it could have been a lot worse, but I hope the pain soon passes.
There's no doubt about it, the expression - "click clack, front and back" - sure applies when flying too!Agree (0) Alert moderator
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kenl:
08 Oct 2008 1:08:37pm
I guess the sound of oh so many seatbelts being undone as soon as the seatbelt sign goes off will be a thing of the past then? Why do people do that?
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Glenn:
08 Oct 2008 1:24:35pm
Because the sign says unbuckle your seat belts and that what people do.
That shoulds bereplaced with an anouncement that you can nowmove around the cabin but stay buckled whilst seated.Agree (0) Alert moderator
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ME:
08 Oct 2008 1:47:16pm
It doesn't say unbuckle you seat belts. It no longer highlights that you have to have your seat belt buckled.
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cadence74:
08 Oct 2008 1:52:27pm
I'm pretty sure there usually is something said about keeping your belt buckled when seated. but people tend to not be paying attention.
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Felix:
08 Oct 2008 1:59:51pm
They've made the announcement on every flight I've been on and I fly quite regularly. Along the lines of - for your saftey, while seated, please keep your seatbelt on.
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Odille:
08 Oct 2008 1:32:49pm
I don't fly very often but do always keep mine on. Yet I know people who fly a lot who claim to have never to've heard of the clear air turbulence phenomena - the most common cause of this type of incident.
Just awfully bad luck of course if you need a loo break at that particular moment.Agree (0) Alert moderator
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mitch:
08 Oct 2008 1:19:15pm
i understand that turbulance is part of flying but why is it that of late (since qantas maintenance went O/S) is it that our "safest" airline is having these dangerous midair problems, surely the problem with them has to do with maintenance, me thinks that closing the maintenance here to ship it O/S wasn't such a good thing for qantas shareholders, years of cut backs to get shareholders more returns will be the death of our once great airline, once the passengers are second to shareholders thats it, they are saving so much money by having maintenance O/S but at what cost to the safety of passengers the ones who pay to put money in shareholders hands?? how many lives are being put at risk by sub-standard maintenance procedures?? CASA are a complete joke as they use qantas as the standard, if thats the case CASA must have lowered their standards by a mile, 3-4 years ago qantas had little to no problems that we heard of, now it seems every week we hear of a qantas problem....
note to CEO of qantas, if these incidents keep occuring passengers will go elsewhere for air travel needs, without passengers theres no income and no income will mean no returns to shareholders, meaning alot of angry shareholders, which will see you out the door without a golden handshake...
you've been warned!Agree (0) Alert moderator
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JC:
08 Oct 2008 2:02:25pm
Mitch, you ask questions as to why this seems to be happening so much to Qantas? Perhaps you should ask, "why are incidents with Virgin not being reported." They do occur and they do occur frequently. Why are they not reported? Go behind the scenes and look at the ownership structures of Virgin (hint: media).
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mitch:
08 Oct 2008 2:39:53pm
but why JC is it that Virgin haven't had oxygen tanks explode? engines failing mid-flight? oxygen masks that are that old your better off without them? i'm pretty sure if any of this happened to Virgin they'd be on the news too
wasn't QANTAS's claim to fame "the safest airline in the world" because of no loss of life? how long til someone does lose their life because of this rapid amount of cost cutting?,
do you remember the olive in the salad and how by taking 1 olive out per salad they were saving some big figure every year? surely thats got to come in under the knit-picking catagoryAgree (0) Alert moderator
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Gweneth:
08 Oct 2008 2:20:26pm
I have already gone to another airline. I only fly Virgin now as they have newer planes. I simply don't trust their maintenance. The last time I flew with qantas the service was appalling and the food terrible. This profit motive has meant that a great airline is now second rate.
Capitalism sucks.Agree (0) Alert moderator
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Frequent Flier:
08 Oct 2008 1:20:28pm
How about the people leaping out of their seats before the plane comes to a complete halt?
I'm waiting for an incident there...Agree (0) Alert moderator
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Mark:
08 Oct 2008 1:27:10pm
One interviewed passenger said that overhead lockers burst open. I wonder how many of the injuries were actually from heavy carry-on bags? Buckling your seat belt won't save you from falling baggage which could fly up from the floor as well.
Perhaps there needs to be a rethink on airlines that are now charging extra for check-in baggage. This will only encourage passengers to take the maximum size and weight as carry-on baggage.
It should be the other way round: free check-in baggage, and charge for heavy and hard edged carry-on baggage that could injure.Agree (0) Alert moderator
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Jono B:
08 Oct 2008 2:32:51pm
"Buckling your seat belt won't save you from falling baggage which could fly up from the floor as well."
Which is why cabin crew instruct you to put baggage under the seat in front, if not in the overhead lockers.Agree (0) Alert moderator
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dee:
08 Oct 2008 1:27:36pm
What would have happened if the plane had been one of the tiny BAE146's that go backwards and forwards to Christmas and Cocos(Keeling) Islands WA Indian Ocean Territories? They also regularly fly this area out of Exmouth. The planes do not inspire confidence with the inflatable raft in the passenger cabin. They need to put bigger and more modern planes on the route to Cocos.
One of those would not have survived something like this.Agree (0) Alert moderator
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Brad:
08 Oct 2008 2:23:26pm
"What would have happened if the plane had been one of the tiny BAE146's"
The effect would have been the same whatever type of plane it was. Clear air turbulence affects all planes, big and small. The only difference would be the number of passengers on board, hence the number of injuries.
"One of those would not have survived something like this."
Of course it would. 146s have survived clear air turbulence before. Even smaller turboprops planes like the Dash-8 and Saab 340 have survived worse. There's nothing inherently wrong with a 146 (apart from it being slow). They would not be allowed to fly unless they met safety requirements. There is actually an advantage to using a four engine 146 as they don't have ETOPS limitations.
Christmas and Cocos (Keeling) Islands don't have the traffic to justify bigger jets like a 737. Running them half empty would double the average fare and waste a lot of fuel.Agree (0) Alert moderator
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jethro:
08 Oct 2008 1:31:08pm
Good old PM on 7 October: Quick, find someone to blame! Their immediate reference to the airline's maintenance woes - before the incident's cause could even be guessed at - was noteworthy, as was Tony Jones's comment regarding immigration staff '...interviewing people with broken bones to see if they've got a visa' (or words to that effect) a pinnacle of good commentary. Glib, presumptive judgments and appraisals do little to further any story. Must try harder.
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Brad:
08 Oct 2008 1:42:15pm
The immigration issue was fair comment and borne out by reports from the passengers. Immigration wouldn't let injured passengers go to the toilet unless they produced a passport.
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in for a penny:
08 Oct 2008 1:35:27pm
"you are free to move around the cabin, however it is a QANTAS requirement, that when seated that you keep your seatbelt fastened"
For years I have kept mine on, it isn't for lack of warning really.
A very risky time would be when the meal service has begun, hot food, carts, coffee and tea, etc flying around the cabin is very scary.Agree (0) Alert moderator
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Gypse:
08 Oct 2008 1:50:14pm
People feel safer with the seat belt off. It's a weird phenomenon and somehow linked to the whole fear of flying thing. The twisted logic works like this... You don't need your seat belt on because nothing bad is going to happen. You feel safer because nothing bad will happen. You feel less safe when you wear your seatbelt because the seatbelt is just in case something bad might happen.
I've been in and out of light aircraft for over 20 years. I don't fly as a commercial passenger very often, but when I do, the seatbelt is always on when I'm seated.Agree (0) Alert moderator
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cadence74:
08 Oct 2008 1:39:18pm
I do a bit of travelling (i can't recall if it is done during the safety instruction or if it is printed somewhere) but they always say any time you are seated keep your seatbelt on. I feel for those who are injured and were moving about but those that were in their seats should have had their belts on. Even if i am sleeping during the flight it may be loosely but i will have my belt down up.
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Jim Bendfeldt:
08 Oct 2008 2:09:28pm
So it was a computer glitch this time! Ever since QANTAS began off-loading its maintenance work to engineers in 3rd world countries who are prepared to work for considerably less money, they have rapidly turned into a 3rd class service.
If their safety record deteriorates even further, QANTAS will be on par with airline services from Somalia, Russia, Indonesia, Peru and Liechtenstein!
Maybe QANTAS should supply parachutes to passengers at each terminal they operate from, together with inflatable life rafts, bash hats and personal cocoons.Agree (0) Alert moderator
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Brad:
08 Oct 2008 2:27:13pm
"Ever since QANTAS began off-loading its maintenance work to engineers in 3rd world countries"
Don't tell Anna Bligh that Brisbane is a third world country. That's where the A330s are maintained.Agree (0) Alert moderator
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Joxer:
08 Oct 2008 2:09:48pm
Heard about a Virgin Atlantic flight some years ago where passengers went clean through the floor from Economy Class into the upper-deck Business Class cabin when the plane (747) experienced a sudden drop in altitude. Apparently it was as a result of hitting unexpected and very heavy turbulence over the Atlantic.
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Anne:
08 Oct 2008 2:27:12pm
Hey folks, turbulence happens! It isn't selective about the logo on the end of the plane!
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Brown:
08 Oct 2008 2:36:22pm
This should sure sends a reminder to people or peoples that travel with their kids make sure they put their seat belt on and tighten it.To all of you people who do travel lot on airplanes no matter what airline you travel with You Should Always Keep Your Seatbelt and tighten it On no matter what if the sign is off or not. The flight attendants on all the airlines wants seatbelts on and tighten so follow it you will have not that much major issues to deal with when it does happen sometimes. I feel sorry for that this happen to everyone they that were hurt but I know they were very luckey to get minor injuries. I travel alot on WestJet Airlines , Air Canada and Cathay Pacific and it never happen to me so I am thankul for that and hope it stay the same when travel.I always buckle up no matter what when I travel on airplanes and hope everyone has learned a lesson from this and the what happen too.
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GB Dorrington:
08 Oct 2008 2:42:01pm
I've been buckled in as a plane hurtled over "speed humps" (turbulence). You can actually feel being 'hoisted' up against the belt. Even with blunt warnings of speed humps ahead people tend to blithely ignore them, wandering up and down the isle like they're looking for their mind. As a previous post said, it's no different to being in a car!
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