Does QF have pickle fork problems

[Greg Hyde]

Calls for Qantas to ground Boeing 737 fleet after crack discovered on second aircraft

Australia's aviation engineering union has called on Qantas to ground its entire Boeing 737 fleet after a crack was discovered on a second aircraft overnight.

The airline yesterday said it would immediately inspect 33 Boeing 737 planes after a crack was found on one of them during a scheduled maintenance check.

The Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association (ALAEA) said both cracks were on a part of the plane called the "pickle fork", which holds up the wings.

"These aircrafts should not be flying," ALAEA boss Steven Purvinas said.

"The area where the crack is takes the load off the wing and all the fuel it carries.

"As long as Qantas is unaware which aircrafts do or don't have cracks, they should ground the entire fleet until they know which are safe to fly."

The airline said the cracks did not compromise safety and that calls to ground its fleet were unreasonable.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-10-31/cracks-discovered-on-second-qantas-boeing-737/11657146

Qantas, Southwest Airlines checking Boeing 737 planes for structural cracks

https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/incidents/qantas-southwest-airlines-checking-boeing-737-planes-for-structural-cracks/news-story/565826954fd9151b51896ae905642421

[Yusef D]

While I do have respect for Steve Purvinas, no aviation professional should use the word aircrafts.

[Greg Hyde]

3 a/c found with cracks and grounded.

[Reece perram]

Do we know which these 3 aircraft are?

[Adrian B]

Qantas Press Conference here: Source Youtube - 7 News (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkiAbF5FM7M)

This youtube file from Waren Brown (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HprNMrjK6_I) has the FAA AD, plus some other illustrations to explain.

[Greg Hyde]

https://australianaviation.com.au/2019/11/qantas-grounds-three-boeing-737-800s-after-cracks-found-in-pickle-fork/

More info, no aircraft identified as yet

[Greg Hyde]

Just check the fleet and a few candidates are:

VXA parked Melb since 30/10
VXU parked Bris since 29/10
VXC Bris maint since 15/10
VXM Bris maint since 18/10

[MarkR]

Not surprised if its VXA and VXC given they were early deliveries.

[Erik H. Bakke]

Are those 4 in the range for the number of cycles mentioned? Around 27,000 or so, I think?

[Greg McDonald]

Quite funny really...every time Steve Purvinas says it's black, Qantas says it's white! :)

[Greg Hyde]

Of the QF fleet only 33 had the number of cycles warranting checks.

The above 4 were selected based on movements up to yesterday (not cycles).

ie: Aircraft already in maintenance as well as those which hadn't flown for several days (maybe grounded)

[Dennis McLean]

VXF in BNE since 11pm on 31/10

[Adrian B]

A report in The Age newspaper (http://www.theage.com.au) claims that Lion Air have found cracks in younger aircraft. (Sorry I cant share the article)

The article by Patrick Hatch and Karuni Rompies states 2 Lion Air aircraft with fewer than the mandated minimum of 22600 flight cycles have been found to have cracks,, but also states it is in the -900 variant, whereas QF and VA operate -700 and -800 variants.

[Greg Hyde]

SMH is reporting the same story

https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/pickle-cracks-found-on-newer-737s-spark-fresh-calls-for-qantas-virgin-inspections-20191106-p53828.html

[Brenden S]

Lionair aircraft were under 18000 cycles.

[Oliver Gigacz]

VXA flew up to BNE yesterday after being in MEL since 30/10.

[James Smith]

The three QANTAS B738s that required pickle fork repairs are all back in service:

VXF - Returned to service on 19/12/19
VXM - Returned to service on 17/1/20
VXA - Returned to service on 15/2/20