The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism issued a business improvement order and a warning to the safety management supervisor to Oriental Air Bridge (ORC) on June 28.
On May 18, a maintenance worker who was detected with alcohol during a self-examination before going to work, started his duties without conducting the mandatory pre-work alcohol test as stipulated by the Aviation Law. An alcohol test conducted one hour and 12 minutes after starting work also detected alcohol. During this time, the maintenance worker carried out maintenance tasks such as towing the aircraft, pre-departure inspections, and repairing malfunctions. Furthermore, this maintenance worker destroyed the records of the maintenance work performed and did not conduct the functional inspections after work as prescribed in the maintenance procedure manual.
As a result, from May 18 to 22, 30 flights were operated under incomplete maintenance conditions, and the operation of the subject aircraft was suspended until June 3, when all parts worked on by the said maintenance worker were replaced.
ORC suspended the operations of maintenance workers who worked during the same shift as the concerned maintenance worker. The Osaka Aviation Bureau of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism received the first report on May 21 and an interim report on June 7. “We deeply apologize to our customers and all those concerned for the inconvenience and concern caused. We take this matter seriously and will work diligently to prevent recurrence and steadfastly maintain safe operations.”
