Australian army says Nomad unsafe<\/p>\n
CANBERRA (Reuter): The Australian army has recommended that
\nits locally-built Nomad planes, used widely by air forces in the
\nPhilippines, Thailand and Indonesia, are unsafe for military use,
\nit was reported yesterday.<\/p>\n
The Australian newspaper said a confidential army report to
\nDefense Minister Robert Ray had proposed the Nomad planes be
\npermanently grounded.<\/p>\n
\"The army's report concluded the aircraft was unsafe for
\nmilitary purposes and that the plane was only airworthy for
\ncivilian use under strict conditions,\" The Australian said.<\/p>\n
A spokesman for Ray told Reuters the minister had received the
\nreport last week, but he could not confirm or deny the report's
\ncontents.<\/p>\n
The twin-propeller Nomad planes were designed in the early
\n1970s for short take-offs and landings by a state-owned
\nmanufacturer and 170 were built between 1971 and 1984.<\/p>\n
The army's 24 Nomads were grounded indefinitely last November
\nafter a series of crashes in recent years and after the Civil
\nAviation Authority (CAA) restricted them to longer take-offs and
\nlandings.<\/p>\n
Over 70 Nomads were sold overseas in the 1970s and 1980s, with
\n16 being used by the Indonesian military, 20 by the Thai military
\nand 10 by military in the Philippines.<\/p>\n
Fifteen are used as civilian aircraft in the United States.
\nDefense sources told Reuters the report being considered by the
\nminister was commissioned when the Nomads were grounded.<\/p>\n
The sources could not confirm that the report recommended the
\nscrapping of the army Nomads, but they said the CAA restrictions
\nmeant they were no longer of much use to the army.<\/p>\n
\"They (the restrictions) mean that we can't use them out of
\nthe strips that they were designed for as a short take-off and
\nlanding aircraft and that we need them for,\" one source said.<\/p>\n
Nineteen of the 170 Nomads built have crashed, killing 56
\npeople.<\/p>\n
Opposition defense spokeswoman Jocelyn Newman called on the
\ngovernment yesterday to accept the army's recommendation. \"People
\nwill die,\" she told Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio.<\/p>",
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