Bombardier grounds 60 Q400 planes

13 September 2007

Canadian aircraft maker Bombardier has recommended grounding around 60 of its Q400 turboprop airplanes after two suffered landing-gear failure and crashlanded earlier this week. The move has caused widespread cancellations, mostly by regional airlines, in the United States and Europe.

A Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) Q400 turboprop making an emergency landing at Denmark's Aalborg airport on Sunday 9 September. However, all 73 passengers and three crew were evacuated safely.

Another SAS Q400 plane en route from Copenhagen to Palanga made an emergency landing at Vilnius international airport in the early hours of Wednesday 12 September, when two of the airplane's three landing-gear sets failed to deploy. The aircraft's fuselage and a wing ploughed into the earth after the landing. The 48 passengers and four crewmembers were safely evacuated with no injuries.

In March, another Q400 had landed in a shower of sparks in Japan after its front landing gear did not lower. No one was injured in any of the landing incidents.

A Bombardier representative said that the pilots in the two most recent collapses were able to extend their landing gears, unlike their Japanese counterparts. He said the aircraft maker was recommending grounding of about 60 Q400 models that have gone through at least 10,000 takeoff and landing cycles.

In the United States, the biggest disruption came when Horizon Air withdrew 19 of its 33 Bombardier Q400s. The regional air carrier, which is owned by the Alaska Air Group, said the move caused 113 flight cancellations on Wednesday, and would probably have the same number of cancellations on Thursday.