Australian police are investigating the suspected sabotage of the entertainment system on a Qantas Airways airliner during the ongoing bitter labour dispute between the airline and the aircraft maintenance union, officials said today.

Australian national carrier Qantas Airways grounded its global fleet indefinitely today in a lockout of workers whose strikes have disrupted operations for weeks.

AUSTRALIA’S Qantas Airways industrial fight with unions has turned nasty, with racist threatening letters sent to the airline’s Irish chief and other management staff, and cars and homes of Qantas staff damaged after they refused to strike.

The Qantas airliner that suffered a massive in-flight explosion will be repaired to fly again, allowing the company to preserve its track record of never losing a jet in an accident.