QF NB

Qantas grounds regional aircraft

The Australian

Qantas planes grounded after inspection

The Courier Mail

Not surprisingly, this is going to cause quite a number of disruptions and cancellations in QLD, and to a smaller extent, on SYD-CBR services.

I've heard Sunstate is scrambling to get Alliance and Macair to help operate some of the milkrun + other flights.

Regards

serfty

It's affecting Horizon (Alaskan Air subsidiary) in Nth America as well. More here ... http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/...ap4109426.html

DownUnderFlyer

Bombardier advised all Q400 customers that they should ground all of their Q400s if their main landing hear has completed more than 10,000 cycles until an inspection of the landing gear has been carried out.

This roughly affects a bit less than one third of all 160 Q400 in service at the moment. Most of their 22 customers should be affected by this one way or another unless you have a fleet of very new ACs.

jjclancy

I see a menu of three equipment types on various routes (reported by Qantas.com):
De Havilland DHC-8 Dash 8
De Havilland DHC-8 Series 300
De Havilland DHC-8 400 Series

What does the first mean? Something other than -300s and -Q400s? I assume only the last one is affected by this.

moa999

Fair enough in order to prevent this:

http://www.break.com/index/plane-cra...on-runway.html
http://blog.flightstory.net/290/vide...ed-at-landing/

Some pretty crazy propeller damage to the LHS

Kiwi Flyer

Aren't there some series 200 Dash's still?

tallboy

Yes, SAS (the launch customer for the Q400) has had two undercarriage-related Q400 accidents this week, Sunday and Wednesday. (I know the Fleet Safety Manager and flew with him on a Q400 ARN-OSL in June this year...)

More detail below:

***************************************
SAS Q400 Landing Gear Fails After Touchdown
Carrier Cancels All Flights To Aalborg

A Scandinavian Airlines Q400 turboprop's right landing gear collapsed just as it touched down during an emergency landing at Aalborg Airport in western Denmark Sunday. Five of the 73 people on board sustained minor injuries, according to the Associated Press.

The pilot called for an emergency landing after identifying an unknown problem with the landing gear. According to carrier spokesperson Bertil Ternert, this type of problem is a first for not only the airline, but also for the plane's manufacturer... a statement confirmed by planemaker Bombardier.

Video of the accident shows the right landing gear collapsing just as the plane touched down, then the right prop digging into the ground. Prop debris entered the cabin, but didn't strike any passengers, according to police.

A resultant fire in the right engine was quickly extinguished while the 69 passengers and four crew were evacuated. The minor injuries occurred during the evacuation, the AP reported.

As of Monday, the aircraft was still on the runway. Because the alternate runway at AAL isn't long enough for its fleet of Q400s, SAS cancelled its flights to the capital of North Jutland.

None of the remaining aircraft have been grounded as a result of the accident, said carrier spokesperson Mikkel Loendahl. Inspections will occur on all aircraft, however.

"We're completely certain that this is an isolated incident," spokesperson Anne Bove-Nielsen told Bloomberg. "Bombardier reassured us that nothing suggests a fault in the construction."

The Copenhagen Post reports the Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) has already begun an investigation but is and has been less than satisfied with the maintenance procedures of SAS. The CAA declined to comment on the accident, but agency press spokesperson, Thomas Ancker, said the airline had demonstrated 'serious oversights' regarding maintenance issues.
The carrier reportedly made more than 2300 flights with safety equipment that didn't meet required standards.

"SAS has not lived up to the expected standard and that means the authorities have now directed their attention to the airline's maintenance program," said Ancker.

SAS denied the accusations. "We can merely note that the airplanes we have in the air have the necessary certification and that we have an ongoing dialogue with the CAA," said SAS spokesperson Jens Langergaard.
Danish authorities are investigating the cause of the accident.

FMI: www.aal.dk, www.slv.dk

aero-news.net

**************

Bombardier probes crash

A Bombardier Q-400 operated by Scandinavian Airlines lies on its side after crashing during an emergency landing. Five passengers suffered minor injuries after part of the aircraft�s landing gear collapsed and an engine caught fire. In March, two similar planes had landing-gear problems in Japan. Email story

Denmark incident Sunday third this year involving landing gear on planes similar to Toronto-built Q-400

Bombardier Inc. has dispatched an investigator to Denmark in the wake of an accident involving one of the company's Toronto-built aircraft when a Scandinavian Airlines turboprop crashed during an emergency landing.
The accident, which blocked the main runway at the Aarlborg airport in north Jutland, is the third incident this year involving landing gear on similar types of Bombardier aircraft.

"We have dispatched a product-safety specialist and related technical support," Bombardier spokesperson John Arnone said yesterday.

The SAS plane, a Q-400, was carrying 73 people while landing in Aarlborg on Sunday. As the jet ran down the runway, part of the landing gear collapsed and an engine caught fire. One propeller blade pierced the plane's cabin, but did not hit anyone. Five people suffered minor injuries, SAS said.

The plane had left Copenhagen's international airport for the domestic flight to Aalborg. Problems with the aircraft's main landing gear were identified, "and the pilots prepared a controlled emergency landing," said the airline, which is the joint flag carrier of Norway, Denmark and Sweden. "After landing, the right main gear collapsed."

Arnone said various fleets around the world have a total of 160 Q-400s. The aircraft, recognized as a Canadian success story, has logged more than one million flight hours.

The jet is used for regional travel and can hold up to 76 passengers.
"What appears to have occurred in Denmark is the only incident we know of a landing-gear collapse," Arnone said.

This has not been a good year for the aircraft, also known as the Dash-8. In March, two of the turboprops were reported to have landing-gear problems in Japan.

A Q400 operated by All Nippon Airways had a landing-gear malfunction that forced pilots to make an emergency landing, creating sparks as the plane's nose hit the runway.

A week later, two pilots with Japan's Amakusa Airlines Co. were forced to engage their plane's landing gear manually after the automatic system malfunctioned. No one was hurt.

A spokesperson for Bombardier said at the time that it was "too soon" to draw a link between the two Japanese incidents.

As for the new incident, Arnone said: "The accident is under investigation by Danish aviation authorities, and we can't comment or speculate at this time."

Yesterday, SAS cancelled its 15 flights between Aarlborg and the Danish capital, Copenhagen, because Aarlborg's alternative runway was not large enough to accommodate the airline's jets. SAS has 33 Q400 planes.

Officials at Toronto's Porter Airlines, which operates four Bombardier-build Q400s from the Toronto Island airport, said the airline was monitoring the situation.

"When something like this happens, normally you will receive an operator's report from the manufacturer after they've completed their inspection," said Robert Deluce, Porter's founder and chief executive. "Once we have that, and I expect we'll have something within a short while, we'll perform all the necessary inspections. This really sounds like a one-off (incident), because SAS have operated those aircraft for some period of time."

Porter, a regional carrier, is planning to move ahead with an expansion at the island airport, with three new gates added to the terminal to serve six more Q400s over the next 12 months. The airline is planning to launch service into the United States early next year, and the Bombardier turboprops are a key part of the expansion strategy.

http://www.thestar.com/Business/article/255130

***************

and

***************
DHC-8-402 Q400 Accident (Lithuania)
Status: Preliminary
Date: 12 SEP 2007
Time: 01:36
Type: de Havilland Canada DHC-8-402 Q400
Operator: Scandinavian Airlines System - SAS
Registration: LN-RDS
C/n / msn: 4035
First flight:
Engines: 2 Pratt & Whitney Canada PW150A
Crew: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 4
Passengers: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 48
Total: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 52
Airplane damage: Substantial
Location: Vilnius Airport (VNO) (Lithuania)
Phase: Landing
Nature: International Scheduled Passenger
Departure airport: K�benhavn-Kastrup Airport (CPH/EKCH), Denmark
Destination airport: Palanga Airport (PLQ/EYPA), Lithuania
Flightnumber: 2748
Narrative:
The nose and right main gear reportedly could not be extended or could
not be locked on approach to Palanga. The crew decided to divert to
Vilnius where they carried out an emergency landing.
Scandinavian Airlines and Wider�e have decided to ground the entire
fleet of Dash 8-400 aircraft until further notice.
(aviation-safety.net)
**************

QF NB

"DHC-8 Dash 8" or "DH8" refers to QantasLink's Dash 8-100s and -200s.

Yes, the problems that have arisen appear to only affect Q400s.

Regards

Aus_Mal

And all Qantas Q400's have less than 5000 cycles due to their age (I think the oldest one is about a year old now).

They should be back in the air pretty quickly I think.

James S

I've always felt a momentary twinge of apprehension when sitting right next to the prop, but then have convinced myself that even if things did go wrong it couldn't really pierce the fuselage like in the movie Con Air where that guy had his arm sliced off. Those photos and text now make it clear that it can happen!

JS

NM

Perhaps you don't want to see what can happen?

James S

Ah yes, I remember that, that was the result when the vicar up in Darwin left his light aircraft unattended and "in gear". But they are all lighties - I suppose I was hoping that Dash 8's were a bit tougher.

eoinnz

I remember seeing this experiment done on mythbusters - needless to say that it is not a myth.

serfty

FWIW, the Q400's are referred to in Qantas' timetables as DH4.

IainF

I got caught yesterday whilst travelling from Rockhampton to Townsville.

After a short time deliberating in Mackay, I grabbed a hire care and hot footed up to TSV, which ended up being the right decision as most pax did not arrive until 8-9 hours later...versus a 5 hour drive....
See AFF for full story....

Cheers
IainF