Re: technical publications at QANTAS

["W words" <wongword -at- ozemail -dot- com -dot- au>]

Communicators all

Here's a bit more information from another page
http://www.abc.net.au/pm/s127975.htm    (you can also listen to this)

"...GUILIA BAGGIO [reporter]: Qantas' safety standards are also under
scrutiny by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority. It's decided to expand an
existing audit to cover the airline's technical publications division. CASA
spokesman, Peter Gibson, says there are concerns Qantas hasn't been keeping
up-to-date manuals on how to service and maintain aeroplane parts.

PETER GIBSON: The problem with technical publications at this stage appear
to be not being updated regularly enough so that staff aren't getting the
latest information perhaps as quickly as they should, and staff perhaps not
having access to the right publications at the right time.

GUILIA BAGGIO: What sort of problems can arise with that sort of poor
record-keeping?

PETER GIBSON: Well, the technical publications, the manuals that any airline
uses are important because they supply the detailed information on how to
repair components or how to maintain components, and these publications are
being updated very regularly as the manufacturers change specifications or
as problems may be found in other parts of the world. So it's very important
that the workers actually in the workshops themselves have the latest
information at their fingertips, because otherwise they might be doing
something which has been found to be unsafe elsewhere in the world or simply
be not meeting the manufacturer's latest specifications.

GUILIA BAGGIO: But Qantas' Geoff Dixon says the investigation is purely
technical and has nothing to do with airline safety...."

Regards
Irene