Dozens Of Bombardier Turboprops Grounded

Thursday, September 13th 2007, 7:54 am

By: News On 6

TORONTO (AP) _ Plane maker Bombardier ordered the grounding of at least 40 percent of its Q-400 turboprop planes after a Scandinavian Airlines aircraft skidded off a runway with 52 people aboard Wednesday, the second such incident in three days.

No one was injured when the landing gear failed, forcing the emergency touchdown in Lithuania. However, the accident followed the crash landing late last week of a Scandinavian Airlines flight that suffered a similar failure in Denmark, injuring five people.

That SAS turboprop carrying 73 people caught fire Sunday after its right landing gear collapsed during an emergency landing at Aalborg's airport.

The grounding Wednesday forced the cancellation of at least 200 flights worldwide. Both SAS and Horizon Air, a regional U.S. carrier operated by Alaska Air Group Inc., each canceled more than 100 flights to inspect their turboprop aircraft.

SAS grounded its 27 Bombardier turboprops of the same make, while Horizon Air grounded 19 and Austrian Airlines Group said it would not fly the eight it owns, pending inspection.

Bombardier said Qantas, Lufthansa, Flybe, All Nippon Airways and Japan Air Commuter are also grounding Q-400 turboprop planes.

Bombardier sent representatives to assist European authorities, saying ``Bombardier cannot speculate or comment as to the cause of these incidents.'' The company called the groundings a ``precautionary measure.''

Bombardier, the world's No. 3 civilian airline manufacturer, said Canadian regulators have been briefed on the situation and could recommend further ``corrective actions.''

``We believe our aircraft are absolutely safe and reliable,'' a Bombardier spokesman said.

U.S. and Canadian aviation regulators recently ordered Montreal-based Bombardier to address wing malfunctions on certain jets flown by regional carriers in North America.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration's directive, which went into effect Sept. 5, covers 684 airplanes in the U.S. fleet that were built by Bombardier and used by carriers such as Air Wisconsin and SkyWest Inc.

The airplanes have experienced flap failures over several years, according to Transport Canada, which issued its own safety order affecting 87 jets last month.

On Wednesday, SAS pilots attempted to land the 80-passenger plane at Vilnius airport in Lithuania on its front and left landing gear when the right set of wheels failed to extend, authorities said.

Passengers were ordered to move to the left side of the plane as it approached the runway for fear that the right propeller might shred upon landing and send shards into the cabin, said Kestutis Auryla, head of the Lithuanian Civil Aviation Administration.

In the Sunday crash landing in Denmark, shards of the propeller could be seen flying high into the air as the plane struck the runway.

The right wing struck the ground in Lithuania on Wednesday, causing a shower of sparks but no fire, Auryla said.

The Q-400 turboprop eventually came to a stop in a patch of grass next to the airport's main landing strip after turning 90 degrees. All 48 passengers and four crew were evacuated safely, he said.

The plane in Vilnius had taken off from Copenhagen's international airport for a short flight across the Baltic Sea to Palanga, a resort town in western Lithuania. The pilots noticed a failure in the landing gear during the flight and decided to land at Vilnius airport because the runway there is longer and wider.

Horizon said it canceled 120 flights Wednesday and 127 more that were scheduled to depart Thursday to give it time to inspect its aircraft. The airline was offering refunds to affected customers or rebooking them on other flights without change fees.

The cancellations accounted for about a quarter of the roughly 500 flights Horizon operates daily to 48 cities in California, Colorado, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, British Columbia and Alberta.

Horizon operates 76 planes, all manufactured by Bombardier. In addition to 33 Q-400s, the fleet includes Bombardier CRJ-700s and Q-200s.

Horizon has been flying Q-400s since 2001 and has not experienced any problems with the aircraft, Horizon spokeswoman Caroline Boren said.

In a statement, Horizon President Jeff Pinneo apologized for the inconvenience to passengers.

``Our teams are working around the clock, in conjunction with Bombardier, to complete the necessary inspections and return the affected aircraft to service as quickly as possible,'' he said.

Denver-based Frontier Airlines Holdings Inc. is buying Q-400 turboprops for a regional service, which is still awaiting Federal Aviation Administration approval.

The airline will work closely with Bombardier to determine if any changes are required as a result of its inquiry, Frontier spokesman Joe Hodas said.

Bombardier shares declined 2.2 percent to 6.26 Canadian dollars ($6.04) on Wednesday.

Analyst Cameron Doerksen of Versant Partners did not think the landing gear issue would hurt sales.

``Clearly it's a serious issue,'' Doerksen said. ``(But) I don't think it's going to have a material impact on Bombardier from a financial point of view and I honestly don't think it's going to have an impact on future sales of the Q-400.''