Feds probe claims wires cut on Qantas 767

Federal police are investigating the suspected sabotage of one of Qantas' 265-seat Boeing 767s in Brisbane last Wednesday while the plane was being upgraded.

It is understood that after engineers returned from a lunch break, they noticed several wires had been cut on an in-flight entertainment system.

Aviation industry sources have told _The West Australian_ that further inquiries by the engineers revealed more severed wires that had been covered up.

Qantas uses Boeing 767s on Perth routes to the Eastern States.

A Qantas representative declined to give details yesterday other than to confirm that Federal police were investigating and to insist safety "was never at risk".

However, the risk of more serious sabotage or malicious damage was the reason for the delay in Qantas getting back in the air on Monday afternoon after the airline's decision on Saturday to ground its entire fleet, stranding more than 60,000 passengers.

The Civil Aviation Safety Authority insisted on a comprehensive sabotage-risk mitigation strategy for Qantas, with thorough checks of critical systems after the incident.

The airline has been engaged in a bitter ten-month battle with three unions over new enterprise bargaining agreements that culminated in the airline applying to Fair Work Australia for a lockout of members and grounding of its fleet.

Airline sources said Qantas' confidential submissions to FWA - which terminated industrial action on Sunday night - detailed concerns about sabotage.

The submission from the airline's head of safety, Susan D'Ath-Weston, raised a number of risk scenarios, including flight crew distraction, intentional unsafe acts by flight crew and intentional unsafe acts by ground crew and engineers that would be undiscoverable by flight crew.

Her assessment concluded that the grounding of the fleet immediately after the lockout was announced substantially reduced the risk of sabotage.

The Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association federal secretary Steve Purvinas said it was not known whether the incident was accidental or deliberate and who was responsible, as many people had access to the aircraft.

The grounding has strained Qantas' relationship with the Federal Government and prompted Julia Gillard to accuse Opposition Leader Tony Abbott of colluding with Qantas over the decision.