"Fake" Qantas Engineer Guilty

[NickN]

Jonathan Dart
September 23, 2008 - 10:52AM

Australia's aviation watchdog says checking engineers' credentials would be an inefficient use of resources, following the conviction of a man who used fake documentation to dupe Qantas into giving him a job.

Timothy McCormack, 27, posed as a licensed aircraft engineer for almost nine months before being discovered in July 2007.

He performed 30 maintenance checks in that time, including one on a 747-438 jet with the registration number VH-OJM, the same plane forced to make an emergency landing in Bangkok in January due to a power failure.

McCormack changed his plea and yesterday admitted 42 charges at Sydney District Court.

Among the documents he admitted to falsifying were forged exam results for the Civil Aviation Safety Authority's aircraft maintenance engineer licence.

A CASA spokesman today said that, although the authority is responsible for issuing licences, it does not check them on a regular basis.

"We don't have any processes ourselves for checking engineers' licences, but we don't need to because it's incumbent upon the employer," he said.

"We issue the licences, but licensed engineers don't operate within a vacuum. They operate in an open environment, whether it be a big company like Qantas or small maintenance operation, and they're the ones with the knowledge of their workforce.

"It wouldn't be a sensible use of our resources to [check licences]. In 10 years I've never seen anything like this."

CASA was criticised last week in a Senate inquiry, which described its response to a recent spate of Qantas maintenance problems as "blase".

Comment has been sought from Qantas.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/travel/fa...935599578.html

[NickN]

"We don't have any processes ourselves for checking engineers' licences, but we don't need to because it's incumbent upon the employer," he said.

"We issue the licences, but licensed engineers don't operate within a vacuum. They operate in an open environment, whether it be a big company like Qantas or small maintenance operation, and they're the ones with the knowledge of their workforce.

I understand what they are getting at with that comment but still, waiting for the airline to pick up that the guy is a fake and after god knows how many tasks he has performed on aircraft who are responsible for passengers lives each day is slightly unsettling.

[damien b]

Originally Posted by NickN

I understand what they are getting at with that comment but still, waiting for the airline to pick up that the guy is a fake and after god knows how many tasks he has performed on aircraft who are responsible for passengers lives each day is slightly unsettling.

If i recall correctly Qantas didn't actually know he was a LAME or even acting as one. He was as far as they knew an AME, and being paid to work as one. He lied to his supervisors who had no reason to doubt him. He was not paid as a LAME or on Qantas records as a LAME, which in the end is how he got caught.