Accident | |
---|---|
Date | 9 September 2007 |
Summary | Landing gear failure |
Site | Aalborg Airport, Denmark |
Aircraft | |
Aircraft type | Bombardier Dash 8-400 (Q400) |
Aircraft name | Ingrid Viking |
Operator | Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) |
Registration | LN-RDK |
Flight origin | Copenhagen Airport |
Destination | Aalborg Airport |
Occupants | 73 |
Passengers | 69 |
Crew | 4 |
Fatalities | 0 |
Injuries | 5 |
Survivors | 73 |
Accident | |
---|---|
Date | 12 September 2007 |
Summary | Landing gear failure |
Site | Vilnius International Airport, Lithuania |
Aircraft | |
Aircraft type | Bombardier Dash 8-400 (Q400) |
Aircraft name | Göte Viking |
Operator | Scandinavian Airlines System |
Registration | LN-RDS |
Flight origin | Copenhagen Airport |
Destination | Palanga International Airport |
Occupants | 52 |
Passengers | 48 |
Crew | 4 |
Fatalities | 0 |
Injuries | 0 |
Survivors | 52 |
Accident | |
---|---|
Date | 27 October 2007 |
Summary | Landing gear failure |
Site | Copenhagen Airport, Denmark |
Aircraft | |
Aircraft type | Bombardier Dash 8-400 (Q400) |
Aircraft name | Asta Viking |
Operator | Scandinavian Airlines System |
Registration | LN-RDI |
Flight origin | Bergen Airport, Norway |
Destination | Copenhagen Airport, Denmark |
Occupants | 44 |
Passengers | 40 |
Crew | 4 |
Fatalities | 0 |
Injuries | 0 |
Survivors | 44 |
In September 2007, two separate accidents due to similar landing gear failures occurred within three days of each other on Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 aircraft operated by Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS). A third accident, again with a SAS aircraft, occurred in 27 October 2007, leading to the withdrawal of the type from the airline's fleet.
Scandinavian Airlines System Flight 1209, a Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 registered as LN-RDK, took off from Copenhagen Airport, Denmark, on 9 September 2007. It was on a domestic flight to Aalborg Airport.[ citation needed ]
Prior to landing, the right main landing gear failed to lock and the crew circled for an hour while trying to fix the problem then preparing for an emergency landing. After the aircraft touched down, the right landing gear collapsed, the right wing hit the ground, and a fire broke out. The fire went out before the aircraft came to rest and all passengers and crew were evacuated. Five people had minor injuries, some from parts of the propeller entering the cabin and others from the evacuation.[ citation needed ]
When the handle for lowering the landing gear was activated, the indicator showed two green and one red light. The red light indicated that the right main gear was not locked in position. The landing was aborted. Attempts at lowering the gear manually were also unsuccessful. An investigation into the cause of the failure to deploy revealed that the right main gear hydraulic actuator eyebolt had broken away from the actuator. A further analysis of the actuator showed corrosion of the threads on both the inside threads of the piston rod and the outside threads of the rod end, leading to reduced mechanical strength of the actuator and eventual failure. [1]
On 19 September 2007, the prosecutor of Stockholm commenced a preliminary investigation regarding suspicion of endangering another person. [2] [ needs update ]
Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) was accused of cutting corners in the maintenance of its Q400 aircraft. As the Swedish Civil Aviation Administration began an investigation of the accident, it brought renewed focus on SAS maintenance procedures. (Only two weeks previously, Swedish authorities had levelled a scathing critique at the airline after an aircraft of the same model nearly crashed because its engine accelerated unexpectedly during landing.) The outcome of the investigation was that the cause was not a lack of maintenance but over-cleaning of the landing gear, with pressure washers being used that washed out the corrosion preventative coatings between the eyebolt and the actuator rod end. The airline reportedly made 2,300 flights in which safety equipment was not up to standard, although the airline denied this. [3]
AIB Denmark (Havarikommissionen) noted that the use of different alloys in the bolt and surrounding construction was most probably a contributing factor:
It is evident that the corrosion had attacked the piston rod threads that were in direct engagement with the rod end threads whereas the corrosion attacked in the key way area and in the non-engaged threads was less severe. This suggested that galvanic action between the nobler martensitic stainless steel and the less noble 4340 steel material had enhanced corrosion. [4]
A second accident occurred when a Bombardier Q400, operating as Scandinavian Airlines System Flight 2748, took off from Copenhagen Airport, Denmark, on 12 September 2007. It was headed to Palanga, Lithuania, but was diverted to Vilnius International Airport when landing gear problems were discovered before landing. Again, the right landing gear collapsed immediately after the aircraft touched down. All passengers and crew were evacuated safely. [5] The local officials at Vilnius International Airport noted that this was the most serious accident in recent years. [6] This accident was also caused by corroded threads in the piston rod and rod end.[ citation needed ]
On 27 October 2007, a Q400 registered as LN-RDI was operating SAS Flight 2867 from Bergen, Norway to Copenhagen, Denmark with 40 passengers and 4 crew members when problems with the main landing gear were discovered. After waiting about two hours in the air to burn fuel and troubleshoot, the pilots attempted a prepared emergency landing. The pilots were forced to land the aircraft with the right main landing gear up. The right engine was shut down prior to the landing, because in the previous landings the propeller had hit the ground and shards of it ripped into the fuselage. This was not on the emergency checklist, rather it was the pilots making a safety-based decision. The aircraft stopped on the runway at 16:53 local time with the right wing touching the surface. It did not catch fire and the passengers and the crew were evacuated quickly. There were no serious injuries. The aircraft in question was one of six that had been cleared to fly just a month before, following the grounding of the entire Scandinavian Airlines Q400 fleet due to similar landing gear issues. The entire fleet was grounded again following the accident. [7] [8] [9]
The preliminary Danish investigation determined this latest Q400 accident was unrelated to the airline's earlier corrosion problems; in this particular case being caused by a misplaced o-ring found blocking the orifice in a hydraulic restrictor valve. [10] [11] Accordingly, the European Aviation Safety Agency announced that "...the Scandinavian airworthiness authorities will reissue the Certificates of Airworthiness relevant to this aircraft type in the coming days". [11]
The final report stated:[ citation needed ]
The Solenoid Sequence Valve (SSV) down port and up port filter elements may not withstand normal Landing Gear hydraulic operational pressure fluctuations and may collapse. At a given time prior to the accident, the SSV down port filter element collapsed and the O-ring located adjacent to the filter element migrated into the hydraulic line. ... the rogue O-ring was transferred from the SSV side of the hydraulic line to the Actuator side of the hydraulic line while trapped inside a Union [when the actuator was replaced and union bolts were interchaged] ... It was the opinion of the mechanic that if an O-ring was hidden inside one of the Unions, it would have been observed. ... However, it was not observed that the O-ring was trapped inside the Union. The AIB can not exclude that a thorough inspection of the Unions according to a defined inspection procedure might have led to a finding of the rogue O-ring. But any inspection done by humans is related to human factors and not a guarantee of any findings. It was proven that the O-ring could be trapped inside the Unions, and it was difficult to observe that fact. Furthermore there was no reason for the mechanic to anticipate that a foreign object was present in the Unions because [the mechanic] was not mentally prepared to find anything. Furthermore, the mechanic was told to do the reconfiguration and was not involved in the trouble shooting on the MLG. Probably, the conception of the work was that it was routine work and for that reason, a foreign object present in any of the Unions was not anticipated.
After the second accident in Vilnius, SAS grounded its entire Q400 fleet consisting of 27 aircraft, and a few hours later the manufacturer Bombardier Aerospace recommended that all Q400 aircraft with more than 10,000 flights stay grounded until further notice, [12] affecting about 60 of the 160 Q400 aircraft then in service worldwide. As a result, several hundred flights were cancelled around the world. Horizon Air grounded nineteen of its aircraft and Austrian Airlines grounded eight. [13]
On 13 September 2007, Transport Canada issued an Airworthiness Directive applicable to Bombardier Q400 turboprop aircraft instructing all Q400 aircraft operators to conduct a general visual inspection of the left and right main landing gear systems and main landing gear retract actuator jam nuts. This effectively grounded all Q400 aircraft until the inspection had been carried out. [14] [15] [16]
On 14 September 2007, Bombardier issued an All-Operators Message (AOM) recommending new procedures concerning the landing gear inspection for all aircraft with more than 8,000 flights. Bombardier acknowledged the likelihood of corrosion developing inside the retract actuator. [16]
Previous maintenance procedures mandated checking this component after 15,000 landings. The new maintenance schedule affected about 85 of the 165 Q400 aircraft worldwide. Some operators found that spare parts for this unexpected actuator replacement program were not available, grounding their aircraft indefinitely. [17]
Investigators detected corrosion inside actuators on 25 of 27 aircraft they checked. Accordingly, SAS decided to continue the grounding of its Q400 fleet until all the affected parts were replaced. [18]
On 28 October 2007, SAS announced that it would retire its entire fleet of Q400 aircraft after a third accident involving the landing gear occurred the day prior. [19]
On 10 March 2008, a multi-party agreement was announced, attempting to finalize the roles of maintenance and manufacture in causing the SAS accidents; as settlement the airline and its partners ordered a replacement set of short-haul aircraft from Bombardier, and in turn received a US$164 million discount. [20]
It has been speculated that a November 2007 shakeup of Bombardier management was spurred by the Q400 landing gear issues. [21]
Widerøes Flyveselskap AS, trading as Widerøe, is a Norwegian airline, and is the largest regional airline operating in the Nordic countries. The airline's fleet of 44 Bombardier Dash 8 aircraft, with three more on order, and 3 Embraer E190-E2 aircraft, serves over 40 domestic and international destinations. Widerøe has a turnover of 3.5 billion kr; carries 2.8 million annual passengers; has 3,500 employees and performs 450 take-offs and landings each day.
United Airlines Flight 232 was a regularly scheduled United Airlines flight from Stapleton International Airport in Denver to O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, continuing to Philadelphia International Airport. On July 19, 1989, the DC-10 serving the flight crash-landed at Sioux Gateway Airport in Sioux City, Iowa, after suffering a catastrophic failure of its tail-mounted engine due to an unnoticed manufacturing defect in the engine's fan disk, which resulted in the loss of all flight controls. Of the 296 passengers and crew on board, 112 died during the accident, while 184 people survived. Thirteen of the passengers were uninjured. It was the deadliest single-aircraft accident in the history of United Airlines.
Aloha Airlines Flight 243 was a scheduled Aloha Airlines flight between Hilo and Honolulu in Hawaii. On April 28, 1988, a Boeing 737-297 serving the flight suffered extensive damage after an explosive decompression in flight, caused by part of the fuselage breaking due to poor maintenance and metal fatigue. The plane was able to land safely at Kahului Airport on Maui. The one fatality, flight attendant Clarabelle "C.B." Lansing, was ejected from the airplane. Another 65 passengers and crew were injured. The substantial damage inflicted by the decompression, the loss of one cabin crew member, and the safe landing of the aircraft established the incident as a significant event in the history of aviation, with far-reaching effects on aviation safety policies and procedures.
The De Havilland Canada DHC-8, commonly known as the Dash 8, is a series of turboprop-powered regional airliners, introduced by de Havilland Canada (DHC) in 1984. DHC was bought by Boeing in 1986, then by Bombardier in 1992, then by Longview Aviation Capital in 2019; Longview revived the De Havilland Canada brand. Powered by two Pratt & Whitney Canada PW150s, it was developed from the Dash 7 with improved cruise performance and lower operational costs, but without STOL performance. The Dash 8 was offered in four sizes: the initial Series 100 (1984–2005), the more powerful Series 200 (1995–2009) with 37–40 seats, the Series 300 (1989–2009) with 50–56 seats, and Series 400 (1999–2022) with 68–90 seats. The QSeries are post-1997 variants fitted with active noise control systems.
Scandinavian Airlines System Flight 751 was a regularly scheduled Scandinavian Airlines passenger flight from Stockholm, Sweden, to Warsaw, Poland, via Copenhagen, Denmark. On 27 December 1991, a McDonnell Douglas MD-81 operating the flight, registration OY-KHO, piloted by Danish Captain Stefan G. Rasmussen (44) and Swedish first officer Ulf Cedermark (34), both experienced pilots with 8,000 and 3,000 flight hours, respectively, was forced to make an emergency landing in a field near Gottröra, Sweden. Ice had collected on the wings' inner roots before takeoff, broke off, and was ingested into the engines as the aircraft became airborne on takeoff, ultimately disabling both engines. All 129 passengers and crew aboard survived.
The Cessna 210 Centurion is a six-seat, high-performance, retractable-gear, single-engined, high-wing general-aviation light aircraft. First flown in January 1957, it was produced by Cessna until 1986.
Ansett New Zealand Flight 703 was a scheduled flight from Auckland to Palmerston North. On 9 June 1995, the de Havilland Canada Dash 8-100 aircraft crashed into the Tararua Range on approach to Palmerston North. The flight attendant and three passengers died as a result of the crash; the two pilots and 15 passengers survived.
SAS Commuter, also branded as Scandinavian Commuter, was a regional airline which operated in Denmark, Norway and Sweden. A sister company of Scandinavian Airlines (SAS), it operated various regional services on behalf of the Scandinavian flag carrier. The airline was headquartered at Copenhagen Airport, which also served as its main base. It later also operated bases at Tromsø Airport; Stockholm Arlanda Airport; Trondheim Airport, Værnes and Bergen Airport, Flesland.
Scandinavian Airlines System Flight 933 was a scheduled international flight from Denmark to the United States that on January 13, 1969, crashed into Santa Monica Bay at 19:21, approximately 6 nautical miles (11 km) west of Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) in California, United States. The crash into the sea was caused by pilot error during approach to runway 07R; the pilots were so occupied with the nose gear light not turning green that they lost awareness of the situation and failed to keep track of their altitude. The Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) aircraft had a crew of nine and 36 passengers, of whom 15 died in the accident. The flight originated at Copenhagen Airport, Denmark, and had a stopover at Seattle–Tacoma International Airport, where there was a change of crew. The crash was similar to Eastern Air Lines Flight 401. The crash site was in international waters, but the National Transportation Safety Board carried out an investigation, which was published on July 1, 1970. The report stated the probable cause as improper crew resource management and stated that the aircraft was fully capable of carrying out the approach and landing. The aircraft was conducting an instrument approach, but was following an unauthorized back course approach.
Adam Air Flight 172 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Soekarno–Hatta International Airport to Juanda Airport, Surabaya. On 21 February 2007, the Boeing 737-300 operating the flight made a hard landing at Surabaya and suffered fuselage cracking in the middle of the passenger section. All six of Adam Air's remaining 737s were immediately grounded, though five of them were back in regular service later that year. This incident caused further concerns regarding the safety of flights operated by Adam Air, which had received much criticism after the 1 January 2007 crash of Flight 574.
China Airlines Flight 120 was a regularly scheduled flight from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport in Taoyuan County, Taiwan to Naha Airport in Okinawa, Japan. On 20 August 2007 the Boeing 737-809 (WL) aircraft operating the flight caught fire and exploded after landing and taxiing to the gate area at Naha Airport. Four people—three from the aircraft and one ground crew—sustained injuries in the accident. The fire had been caused by a loose bolt puncturing a fuel tank.
Air Philippines Corporation, operating as PAL Express and formerly branded as Air Philippines and Airphil Express, is a wholly-owned subsidiary airline of Philippine Airlines. It is PAL's regional brand, with services from its hubs in Manila, Clark, Cebu, and Davao.
On 13 October 2011, Airlines PNG Flight 1600, a Dash 8 regional aircraft on a domestic flight from Lae to Madang, Papua New Guinea, crash-landed in a forested area near the mouth of the Guabe River, after losing all engine power. Only is of the 32 people on board survived. It is the deadliest plane crash in the history of Papua New Guinea.
Flight Express, Inc. was a cargo airline owned by Bayside Capital. Bayside Capital acquired Flight Express on November 4, 2008. Flight Express, Inc. operates as an air courier company in the Southeast and Midwest United States. It offers air freight and ground courier services. The company also operates aircraft. It specializes in the transport of cargo for banking and financial institutions, life sciences organizations, newspaper publishers, overnight freight delivery companies, and payroll and photographic processors. It operates 84 aircraft from facilities in eight states. It was founded in 1985 and is based in Orlando, Florida, United States.
Sriwijaya Air Flight 062 (SJ062/SJY062) was a scheduled domestic passenger flight, operated by Indonesian airline Sriwijaya Air from Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, Jakarta to Sultan Thaha Airport, Jambi. On 27 August 2008, the aircraft operating the flight, a Boeing 737 series 200 registered as PK-CJG, overran the runway and crashed onto a house during its landing attempt at Jambi. Due to the accident, 26 people were injured, including 3 people on the ground. One person later succumbed to his injuries. Everyone on board the aircraft survived the crash. It was the first fatal crash in Sriwijaya Air's operational history and was the only fatal accident until Sriwijaya Air Flight 182 crashed in 2021.
Scandinavian Airlines System Flight 901, was a scheduled international flight operated by the Scandinavian Airlines System, that overran the runway at its destination at John F. Kennedy International Airport on February 28, 1984. The flight, using a McDonnell Douglas DC-10, originated at Stockholm Arlanda Airport, Sweden, before a stopover at Oslo Airport, Gardermoen, Norway. All 177 passengers and crew members on board survived, although 12 were injured. The runway overshoot was due to the crew's failure to monitor their airspeed and overreliance on the aircraft's autothrottle.
US-Bangla Airlines Flight 211 was a scheduled international passenger flight from Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka, Bangladesh, to Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, Nepal, that crashed on 12 March 2018 while landing, killing 51 of the 71 people aboard. The aircraft, a 76-seat Bombardier Q400 operated by US-Bangla Airlines, burst into flames after the crash. The 20 surviving passengers were seriously injured from the impact and the fire. It remains the deadliest aviation disaster involving a Bangladeshi airline, and the deadliest incident involving the Bombardier Dash 8 Q400.
Biman Bangladesh Airlines Flight 060 was a scheduled international passenger flight from Dhaka Hazrat Shah Jalal International Airport, Bangladesh to Yangon International Airport, Myanmar. On May 8, 2019, the Bombardier Q400 aircraft skidded off the runway upon landing, breaking into three sections. There were no fatalities, but 18 of the 28 passengers on board including 5 crew members were injured: the aircraft was also declared a hull loss, making it the tenth hull loss of a Q400 aircraft.