Casa meets critics with photo of engine cracks

Australia's Civil Aviation Safety Authority has released a photo of the cracked engine mounts on one of the grounded Ansett jets.

The picture was published on the front page of the Daily Telegraph newspaper in Sydney at the weekend under the headline "On a wing and a prayer."

Casa is understood to have released the photo after criticism that it had been too harsh on Ansett Australia, an Air New Zealand subsidiary.

The air safety regulator grounded Ansett Australia's aircraft on April 12 after cracks were found in engine mountings of three of the jets, while another had flown eight times with its safety ramps out of action.

On Friday Ansett moved closer to getting its Boeing 767 fleet back in the air with the first of the 10 grounded jets cleared for takeoff by safety officials.

The company also announced it would sell the 767s, with individual maintenance inspections beginning soon.

Casa confirmed that it would not be issuing Ansett with a "show-cause" notice, which would have required the airline to prove within the next 14 days why its operating licence should not be revoked.

Air New Zealand chief executive Gary Toomey was reported in Australia as saying Ansett would again emerge as a world leader in aviation safety.

Ansett Australia had been measured in the past as the second-safest airline in the world, he said.

He also said Ansett's board would consider legal action against Casa, but it was not an immediate priority.

Casa said it had accepted a plan presented by Ansett for a comprehensive reform of the airline's operations, particularly in the maintenance area.

Mr Toomey said the cost of grounding the fleet of 767s since Easter Thursday was $2.5 million. That included leasing aircraft, buying seats on other planes and loss of business.

The fleet renewal plan would be put to the Ansett Air New Zealand board in July, and a bid for new aircraft put to Boeing or Airbus later in the year.

The 767s are between eight and 18 years old, described by Mr Toomey as "not old" by today's standards.

The director of aviation safety in Australia, Mick Toller, said changes included an overhaul of the maintenance division including a review of staff and tooling, improved training and better management of spare parts.

Mr Toller said: "We believe that they are changes that address the problems we had and the concerns we had."