Ansett fleet could be grounded for 'weeks'

Ongoing inspections of ten grounded Ansett 767s could continue for weeks, the Australian Civil Aviation Safety Authority said today.

As the grounding of the fleet moved into a fourth day, the Civil Aviation Safety Authority said it has not yet found anything wrong with a grounded Ansett 767 plane.

The airline had hoped the aircraft would be back in service within a day.

But CASA says it is still checking the aircraft's service records and a physical inspection is not expected until tomorrow.

CASA ordered Australia's second largest airline to ground its ten Boeing 767 aircraft on Thursday, and prove by May 4 that its planes were safe or lose its licence.

The groundings has left thousands of passengers stranded or facing flight delays around the country over the Easter holiday weekedn.

Air New Zealand boss Gary Toomey headed to Australia today to address the crisis.

Mr Toomey had ignored criticism of his decision not to go across the Tasman, saying he was more effective dealing with the problem by telephone from New Zealand.

New South Wales' Trading Minister, John Watkins urged the Air NZ-Ansett Australia Group chief executive to front up and apologise to the thousands of passengers affected by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority's (CASA) grounding of Ansett's 767 fleet.

Ansett has suspended four of its executives pending an inquiry into the airline's maintenance practices.