Mercury leak in plane
Wellington
An Air New Zealand Boeing 737 aircraft was taken out of service after a mercury leak from a passenger’s baggage, a company spokesman says. The mercury was found leaking from the baggage in the aircraft’s cargo hold on Monday evening. Five flights were disrupted by the plane being removed from service. The spokesman said the liquid metal was highly corrosive to aluminium and other metals used in the aircraft. The
Boeing had to be X-rayed yesterday before it could go back into service. The baggage containing the mercury was loaded in Invercargill and the leak discovered when the luggage was taken off in Auckland.
A thorough search of the aircraft was made because it was not known when the mercury started leaking. The spokesman said the spillage could have been avoided if the passenger carrying the mercury had told airline counter staff about it when checking in.
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Press, 22 November 1989, Page 6
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152Mercury leak in plane Press, 22 November 1989, Page 6
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