Cathay Pacific suspends cabin crew following issue with oxygen bottles
Cathay Pacific has suspended some members of its cabin crew following the discovery that some oxygen bottles were found to be depleted in two of its recent flights.
The airline said some portable oxygen bottles on a flight from Toronto to Hong Kong and Bali to Hong Kong were found to be “discharged or partially” discharged and that an investigation is now underway.
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The Hong Kong carrier said in a statement: “Cathay Pacific Group is taking the cases very seriously and has launched an internal investigation into the matter. We have also reported the cases to the Hong Kong civil aviation department and the police.
“We can confirm that the cabin crew on two recent Cathay Pacific flights (from Toronto to Hong Kong) and one Cathay Dragon flight (from Bali to Hong Kong), where some portable oxygen bottles stored onboard the operating aircraft were found to be discharged or partially discharged, have been suspended from flight duties to facilitate investigations. The investigation team is following up with all relevant parties.
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“We always conduct pre-flight inspections before all our flights. Recently, we have further strengthened our security measures to now also include inflight and post-landing checks for every flight to ensure all emergency equipment is serviceable and that the safety of our crew and passengers is upheld at all times.”
Earlier this year Cathay Pacific said it would carry out random inspections of its staff after reports that items such as bottles of champagne and ice cream have gone missing from its aircraft.
Main image credit: Getty