Thu, Nov 08, 2007
Say Latest Gear-Related Incident Not Due To A Design Flaw
A joint meeting between
representatives of the European Aviation Safety Agency, Transport
Canada, planemaker Bombardier and component manufacturer Goodrich
determined Wednesday an October 27 incident involving a
Scandinavian Airlines Dash 8 Q400 turboprop was not caused by a
design flaw in the aircraft's right maingear assembly.
As ANN reported, EASA invited
representatives of those companies -- as well as airworthiness
authorities from Denmark, Sweden, and Norway -- to discuss the
decision by Scandinavian authorities to decertify the Q400 for
operations in those countries.
In a release to ANN, EASA states those authorities will "reissue
the Certificates of Airworthiness relevant to this aircraft type in
the coming days."
The Q400 came under fire from Scandinavian authorities following
three nearly-identical right main landing gear failures involving
SAS Q400s in less than two months, resulting in emergency landings.
Separate investigations by the Danish government determined the
first two incidents -- in Aalborg, Denmark on September 9, followed
by another failure in Vilnius, Lithuania three days later -- were
caused by a corroded bolt in each plane's landing gear
assembly.
However, a preliminary report on a third incident on October 27
suggests that failure was caused by a loose rubber O-ring, which
jammed and kept the gear leg from extending. Wednesday's meeting
also confirmed that the two earlier incidents were not related to
the October 27 incident.
The Agency's Executive Director Patrick Goudou welcomed the
spirit of cooperation of all participants, as "a good example of
European and transatlantic cooperation in the area of aviation
safety."
It's unlikely the meeting's findings will change how SAS views
the Q400, however. The carrier has permanently grounded its 27-ship
fleet.
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