VERY INTERESTING

What about it ?
Willie

Hi Willie - my reading of this AD is that it was issued by CASA 3 months prior to the incident on QF 30, and had to be complied with (on the appropriate aircraft - don't know if the plane operating QF30 that day was one of them - QANTAS says not) by June 5th 2008. I guess the implication COULD be that the work was either
- not needed,
- not done correctly,
- not done at all,
for the aircraft/fleet components which may have been faulty. Hopefully the Safety Enquiry which follows will, in the fullness of time, give us all the answers. They never rush these things, and usually perform thoroughly, but hopefully the additional checks now being done by "ours" and other airlines will pick up any other faulty systems in this potentially lethal area.
Certainly the FAA issued their directive on this matter just before the one issued by CASA which you cited, and these directives are circulated to all aircraft owners, aircraft engineers and published in Bulletin format so all pilots, aircraft owners and operators are aware. The ageing commercial fleet in QANTAS would have seen many of these aircraft retired by now had the production schedules of the replacement machines - AIRBUS AND BOEING - not been so long delayed.
Muffin. (J)