Australian minister pledges action on aviation safety

16/10/2008 14:14:18

The Australian federal transport minister, Anthony Albanese, has promised to implement any safety action needed after last week's emergency on board a Qantas flight.

More than 70 people were injured when the Australian airline's Airbus suddenly dived more than 300 hundred metres off Western Australia.

A preliminary investigation by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau found a computer fault caused the aircraft to nose dive twice.

On Wednesday, Airbus alerted its entire fleet of the problem, and provided guidelines on how to address the situation should it happen again.

Mr Albanese told parliament the Transport Safety Bureau will release details of any critical safety issues it uncovers in its preliminary report into the incident in early November.

"I will be guided by advice from the ATSB and CASA who are working closely with Airbus and Qantas in this investigation the government will ensure that any necessary safety action is taken."

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