Cracked window grounds Qantas plane

A Qantas plane that was flying to Los Angeles was grounded in Melbourne after cracks
started to appear in its cockpit window.
A pilot noticed a crack in the outer panel of the side cockpit window after it took
off, and the jet returned and landed safely on Monday morning.
The incident affected 239 passengers who will have been delayed 15 hours if the
plane leaves at its rescheduled time of 1am (AEST) on Tuesday.
In a statement, Qantas said the crack did not pose a major safety threat and it was
safe for the jet to continue flying.
"However, as a precaution, the window was changed after the aircraft arrived in
Melbourne," the statement said.
"Qantas apologises for the inconvenience caused."
It follows a series of incidents in the past week that have forced Qantas flights to
be grounded.
Last Tuesday, a Singapore-bound Qantas flight was forced to turn around and return
to Sydney Airport after an engine problem.
The next day, a Qantas Airbus A380 superjumbo suffered two tyre blowouts while
landing at Sydney Airport, due to braking problems.
Two days later a flight from Brisbane to Los Angeles was grounded because of a
wiring problem.