Air Asia X Perth incident complicated by UK Serious Fraud Office investigation into Rolls Royce that implicated Tony Fernandes,and alluded to cash flow problems at AAX

by Ganesh Sahathevan




The Incident 




AirAsia X has released few details of the incident which The West Australian understands involved the failure of a fan blade in the No.1 engine.
It destroyed hydraulic components and an oil pump before being ingested by the engine.
........ it was “a pretty massive failure” and there would be only two reasons for it: a manufacturing flaw or poor quality inspection during maintenance.

The ATSB is liaising with engine maker Rolls-Royce about the failure and said it expected to produce a report in “a couple of months” after interviewing personnel and gathering additional information.

The Cash Flow Problem As Described By The SFO

333. In communicating this proposal to the AAX senior employee the RR employee pursued otherissues of prompt payment of debts by AAX. The AAX senior employee reacted strongly, both to the structure of the altered proposal on the jet, and on the separate issue of debt repayments, commenting in an email to several RR employees: “I will not meet with liars next week” and requesting the RR employee's removal from the account.


The Crime 

COUNT 12 - MALAYSIA CIVIL Failure to Prevent Bribery between 1 July 2011 and 30 November 2013 In Summary 

314. RR failed to prevent its employees from providing an Air Asia Group (“AAG”) executive (“the AAG executive”) with credits worth US $3.2 million to be used to pay for the maintenance of   
a private jet despite those employees believing that, in consequence, the AAG executive intended to perform a relevant function improperly. This financial advantage was given at the request of the AAG executive, in return for his showing favour towards RR in the purchase of products and services provided by RR and its subsidiaries, including TCA services to be supplied to Air Asia X (“AAX”), a subsidiary of AAG

Tony Frenandes has not denied that the AAG executive is he.His defence is that it was all above board.

END 

Reference
AirAsia Group head of communications Audrey Progastama Petriny, in a statement to Malaysiakini, said AirAsia and AirAsia X board of directors and management were kept informed at all times of the transactions relating to the jet.