• Original report says crack in plane was painted over
• Reference to fault later removed
• Qantas denies any cover-up

QANTAS management have been forced to defend allegations that they pressured an engineer to alter a report that said a crack in a plane had been painted over.

Management at the national carrier have been accused of covering up the fault, noted by an engineer and recorded in a safety report at Melbourne's Avalon airport in May.

The original version of the engineer's report, which stated the crack in the Boeing 747-400's frame had been painted over, was later altered to remove the reference entirely.

The report had been changed because the Qantas worker had been pressured by "senior management to omit or alter information on the form", one engineer said in a complaint obtained by Fairfax newspapers.

They said the report was altered to avoid criticism of the airline's push to have maintenance conducted overseas.

"Management are aware of the public perception in relation to dodgy maintenance of aircraft that have returned from overseas," the complaint said. "The interference in the process that is in place ... solidifies engineer's beliefs that the system has failed."

But the airline's head of engineering, David Cox, dismissed the concerns as being "no issue".

"We are more than confident in our processes and run an open and transparent operation," he said. "It is a shame that some people are not able to abide by the umpire's decision."