January 9, 2008
SYDNEY - A jumbo jet lost its main electrical power as it prepared to land in Bangkok and was forced to rely on a back-up system, Australian airline Qantas said Wednesday.
"The incident involved loss of electrical power on a Boeing 747 on descent into Bangkok on 7th January, 2008," Qantas chief pilot Chris Manning said in a statement.
"The back-up system was activated and the aircraft arrived safely."
Qantas said it had reported the incident to Boeing and aviation authorities and was conducting its own thorough investigation but was unable to comment further until its inquiries were completed, according to AFP.
Aviation sources told The Australian newspaper the incident was highly unusual and could have spelled disaster for the flight carrying 344 passengers.
"If this had happened over the ocean in the middle of the night, it would probably have crashed," an experienced 747 pilot told the paper.
A Qantas engineer familiar with the the 747-400's said the plane's back-up systems would likely only be able to supply power for up to an hour.
"It's pretty dramatic if they've lost all generation systems," he said.
Another 747-400 pilot told the paper he knew of two similar incidents and that the plane could "quite comfortably cope with it for a limited period of time."
Executive general manager John Borghetti said the plane automatically switched to stand-by power after water entered the generator control unit, cutting the electricity.
"As a precaution, Qantas has inspected its entire B747-400 fleet and all of these aircraft have been cleared to fly," he said in a statement.
Australian Transport Safety Bureau deputy director of aviation safety investigation Julian Walsh said it was too early to say what caused the power loss.
"Obviously Qantas, Boeing and ourselves are keen to get to the bottom of it," he told The Australian.
"The information I have at the moment is that it was a total power failure."
The plane involved in the incident was due to arrive back in Sydney later Wednesday, Qantas said.
