ANOTHER QANTAS PLANE HIT BY MECHANICAL PROBLEM

By Neville D'Cruz

MELBOURNE, April 3 (Bernama) -- Another Qantas aircraft has had a mechanical
problem, with an engine fault grounding a flight out of Brisbane Airport.

QF15 was scheduled to leave for Los Angeles at 11am Friday when a problem
was discovered with the wiring in one of the 747's engines, the airline said.

The problem was fixed by the afternoon but the aircraft was forced to stay
put overnight because the crew members' shift was due to end.

The 386 passengers were sent home in taxis or put up in hotels, with the
flight now due to depart today.

Also on Friday, a Qantas flight was delayed for five hours in Perth after a
defect was discovered in a wing flap.

A replacement was installed and the aircraft left for Brisbane at 1pm,
Qantas said.

On Tuesday a Sydney-Singapore flight was forced to turn back when a pilot
discovered a problem in one of the engines

On Wednesday, a superjumbo suffered two tyre blowouts while landing at
Sydney Airport.

Qantas said the situations were not emergencies, and no passengers were put
in danger at any time.
-- BERNAMA