Hungry dog keeps Qantas jet grounded

A hungry dog was behind strange electrical problems which forced the grounding of a Qantas A330 jet after a flight from Auckland to Melbourne last month.

Australia's Courier-Mail newspaper reports the hungry dog escaped from its cage and gnawed through the planes electrical wiring, causing the malfunction of the planes auxiliary power unit.

The Courier-Mail quoted an engineering source as saying: "The dog ripped out several wires which set off the cockpit warning and then it had a go at a number of electrical units in the rear of the plane.

"Under duress the animal obviously went nuts, biting through anything that it came across."

A warning light in the cockpit had earlier indicated to the pilots of an electrical problem.

The source said the most surprised people were probably the ground crew in Melbourne who found one very distressed dog when they opened the hatch.

"I do not know the breed but the dog had to be fairly big with a big bite to damage cargo hold panels that are as tough as billy goat boots - it is difficult to even cut through this material with a knife."

- NZ HERALD STAFF