Relax - Safety violations reported at Jetstar Pacific airlines

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Safety violations reported at Jetstar Pacific airlines

AFP | Wed, Jan 13 2010

Three officials made mistakes in monitoring maintenance work and had not fulfilled the company’s commitment to safety.

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jetstar pacific

qantas

HANOI - Top managers at Vietnamese budget airline Jetstar Pacific, part-owned by Australia’s Qantas, violated maintenance regulations, official media reported late Tuesday.

The Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam (CAAV) ruled the three officials made mistakes in monitoring maintenance work and had not fulfilled the company’s commitment to safety, Vietnam News Agency said.

It identified the managers as former general director Luong Hoai Nam and two foreigners who headed the airline’s maintenance and technical quality sections. It did not say where the foreigners were from.

“Key JPA executives have to take responsibility for these systematic mistakes,” the report quoted the CAAV as saying.

A spokesman for the agency could not be immediately reached by AFP.

Hanoi police arrested Luong Hoai Nam last week for alleged neglect of responsibility in the performance of his duty causing “serious consequences", local media reports said.

He resigned from his post late last year, they said.

Jetstar Pacific (JPA) is 27 percent owned by Australia’s Qantas Group, according to the airline’s website which says the carrier was known as Pacific Airlines until May 2008.

The largest shareholder is the Vietnamese government.

CAAV deputy director Lai Xuan Thanh said Jetstar Pacific had made numerous mistakes which put flights at risk. According to Vietnam News Agency, he cited faults related to personnel appointments, hangars, equipment, and the licences and certificates of maintenance technicians.

The CAAV demanded Jetstar Pacific restructure its quality supervision system, the report added.

Local media have not clearly explained the alleged neglect which led to the arrest of former general director Nam, but the People’s Police newspaper reported the airline lost more than 30 million US dollars related to aviation fuel purchases.

Qantas said on Friday that two of its senior executives have been ordered not to leave Vietnam as they help authorities explain how Jetstar Pacific lost31 million US dollars in fuel hedging.

The employees had done nothing wrong, Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce said.