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Monday 8th July 1996
Monday 8th July 1996
Qantas officials last night refused to give details of the incident which threatens to tarnish the airline's world-class safety record.
Shocked passengers told of the terror of Flight QF69 from Cairns to Tokyo.
A Qantas source said aviation authoroties could officially classify the incident as an "accident", detracting from an unblemished safety record of 50 years.
The massive Boeing 747 was battered by "clear air turbulence" - a violent patch of dry air which cannot be detected by jet radar - over the Pacific Ocean about 600 nautical miles from Tokyo.
Three passengers on the plane were seriously injured while twenty two others were treated at hospitals near Tokyo's Narita airport.
Passengers described scenes of chaos as passengers and food went flying around the cabin and injured people cried out for help.
A passenger describing the incident said: "There was a big blast then I felt my body life and hit the ceiling.
"I landed one row of seats back . Someone was moaning that their leg was broken and I saw more than ten people with blood gushing from their faces."
"It is very important that the community at large understant that unless you go down this path, there are very significant costs to consumers and, indeed, the national economy," he said.
"If you want Telstra to compete with Optus (20 cent) local calls charges it needs to have a competitive structure.
"If we continue to be obstructed... we won't shy away from putting these Bills up twice, and ultimately pursuing the matter."
From a personal perspective I have got to believe that if the Democrats force this to happen that they will be the big losers as their spoiling tactics will have played right into the hands of the Labor Party who are doing everything that they can to be disruptive - now that they are in opposition.
The collapsing copper price, a high Australian dollar, continuing production problems at the McArthur River base metals mine and poor returns from MIM's Highland Gold investment are expected to be among factors influencing the disappointing result due out next month.
Queensland's biggest company is expected to produce a net profit of between Au$33 million and Au$50 million excluding abnormal profit from the sale of 65% on Highland Gold.
In rugby union the Wallaby team is in dissaray after its shock 43-6 trouncing by the All Blacks at Wellington on Saturday. Several of the team have been given their marching orders and several others are said to be "sailing close to the wind". With a Wallaby - Springbok match coming up Wallaby captain John Eales likened Saturday's loss to being beaten by an innings in cricket.
Yesterday the sulphur crested cockatoos discovered the new feed table I put up outside the global office. The large feed table is suspended by a rope from the branch of a large tree.
There was a most frightful fight and displays of pecking order tactics which would have put a prize boxer to shame. The tree was literally covered in over twenty of the birds, harranging and squawking.
Within about an hour the correlas (smaller parrots) had arrived - there were about six in all. Being more aggressive that the cockatoos they soon had taken over the feed tray and the tree.
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