FAA orders inspections of Bombardier Q400 Turboprops

[Pieter C. 5]

FAA Orders Inspections Of Bombardier Turboprops

 

April 30, 2010

 

The US FAA on Thursday ordered airlines to inspect, and replace if necessary, components in Bombardier Q400 planes to help prevent possible problems with stall warning devices in icy conditions.

 

The Federal Aviation Administration directive affects more than 60 of the turboprop aircraft in the United States.

 

The order builds on a similar notice issued by Canadian regulators in February at the request of the manufacturer, which put out its own service bulletin last autumn.

 

Bombardier, the world's third-largest civil aircraft maker, said that one of its suppliers notified it of a potential problem found in ageing sensor-based devices, in icy conditions. The devices are crucial in measuring wing angles, and a malfunction could lead to inaccurate readings.

 

The Montreal-based company said it issued a service bulletin as a precaution to all its Q400 operators last autumn after the supplier said it discovered a problem in a similar sensor used in a non-Bombardier aircraft.

 

"Moreover, Bombardier asked Transport Canada to issue an airworthiness directive, which it did in February 2010, as a follow-on to the service bulletin. And now what you are seeing today appears to be the FAA following on the Transport Canada airworthiness directive," said John Arnone, manager of media and public relations at Bombardier Aerospace.

 

France-based Thales supplies Bombardier with the parts.

 

The FAA stressed that there have been no in-flight failures of the devices, but said closer examination was necessary to prevent potential problems with icing.

 

The FAA also requires a stricter compliance schedule.

 

A Q400 turboprop crashed in February 2009 in wintry conditions, near Buffalo, New York, killing 49 people on the plane and one person on the ground.

 

US safety investigators mainly blamed the crew for failing to properly avoid aircraft stall during the Continental Connection flight.

 

There are 288 Q400 turboprops in operation around the world with over 30 operators and airlines. They range in size from 37 seats to 80 seats.

 

(Reuters)