Bombardier grounds line of turboprops

TORONTO —Bombardier Inc. is recommending many of its Q400 turboprop planes worldwide be grounded immediately after a Scandinavian Airlines aircraft skidded off a runway with 52 people aboard yesterday—the second such incident in three days.
The recommendation from Bombardier and landing gear manufacturer Goodrich Corp. calls for inspections of planes that have taken off and landed more than 10,000 times—about 60 of the 160 Q400s used by airlines worldwide.

The Scandinavian Airlines plane smashed one wing into the ground after its right-side landing gear failed to lower during an emergency landing in Vilnius, Lithuania.
Pilots tried to land the plane on its front and left landing gear when the right set of wheels failed to descend, airport authorities said.
The crew made all passengers sit on the left side of the plane for fear that the right propeller might break into pieces and puncture the cabin.
None of the 48 passengers or four crew members were hurt.
Three days earlier, five people were injured when another Scandinavian Airlines Q400 crash-landed and caught fire in Aalborg, Denmark.
Bombardier spokesman Bert Cruickshank said yesterday it’s too soon to tell what exactly went wrong.
“We have our technical and product safety people working with the operator and working with the authorities,” he told The Canadian Press.
A Bombardier statement said an air safety representative has been sent to Lithuania to help in the investigation.
Transport Canada has been briefed on the situation and will recommend further “corrective actions” if they’re required, the statement said.
“Bombardier’s turboprop family has a strong reputation quality-wise, and we do not believe these incidents will have any long-term material implications,” Desjardins Securities analyst Benoit Poirier said in a note to clients.
Poirier noted the company is expected to deliver 44 of the aircraft to customers around the world in fiscal 2008, 40 in 2009, and 42 in 2010.
“We believe it is unlikely that any fallout will affect orders or deliveries.”
Scandinavian Airlines, also known as SAS, immediately grounded its fleet of turboprops and cancelled more than 100 flights yesterday.
“This is very serious,” SAS spokeswoman Elisabeth Manzi said. “The background to our decision is the accident in Denmark on Sunday.
“A lot of people have to be re-booked since a lot of flights will be cancelled,” she added.
Last year and earlier this year, Japanese airlines experienced a rash of landing-gear problems with turboprop planes made by the Montreal-based manufacturer of regional airliners, business jets, and railway equipment, which had sales of $14.8 billion (U.S.) in its latest financial year.