Aircraft News Weblog

Tag: airline

  • Q400 Landing Gear Collapse: Causes and Impact

    A Q400 aircraft landing at Halifax International Airport in Nova Scotia suffered a landing gear collapse after an uneventful flight. The Transportation Safety Board initial report found that the aircraft had a tire failure on takeoff. Upon landing, the tire remnants started rotating. This caused enough vibration for the main landing gear to unlock and collapse.

    When the propeller contacted the runway the blades broke off and the engine was badly damaged. The aircrew declared a Mayday and secured the aircraft for an emergency evacuation on the runway. All passengers and crew successfully left the aircraft with no serious injuries.

    As the investigation continues I would like to describe the configuration of the landing gear on the Q400. On the Down selection, the gear doors open. The main landing gear is hydraulically lowered aft from the engine nacelle. The Actuator linkage travels overcenter and locks, the landing gear doors then close again. It is held in the down position by hydraulic pressure and large springs.

    The Q400 is over 25 years old and is no longer in production. It is operated all over the world and has proven to be a reliable aircraft. The failure of the landing gear due to tire remnants vibration is not a new problem. It is unlikely the investigation will call for major modifications as a solution to this accident.

  • PW1100G Geared Turbo Fan

    Pratt and Whitney have found themselves in a strange situation. Their order book is brimming with orders for the PW1100G ( Geared Turbo Fan) but the engine used in the Airbus 320/321 Neo is being removed in record numbers for repair. In total 1200 engines will need repairs. The problem is a number of small cracks appearing in the powdered metal used in the engines High Pressure Turbine disks that were manufactured between 2015 and 2021.

    At the moment Pratt and Whitney are producing more engines than are being removed to bring AOG (Aircraft On Ground) rates down. The defect is having an effect on multiple airlines in the busy summer season. Pratt and Whitney have increased engine production to minimize the downtime of existing customers by having engines available. Despite this, approximately 10% of the GTF fleet is parked awaiting engines. Indian airline Go First recently cited the engine as the primary reason they filed for bankruptcy.

    There are also problems with the PW1500G series engine installed in the Airbus 220. The reliability of the engine is well below the target that Pratt and Whitney expect. Some PW1524G engines in the A220-300 are being removed at less than a thousand landings instead of the forecast 5260 landings. There is an Engine Airworthiness Directive for inspection of the engine fan due to inflight shutdowns and the failure of fan blades.

    Now, in my experience there are always teething troubles with new designed engines that only appear after operational real world experience. The manufacturers do their best to cover all the bases to achieve certification from the regulator but, they can’t anticipate all the environmental affects that the engines will experience.

  • Air Canada Rouge

    Only a month after Westjet launch their Regional Airline in June 2013, Air Canada are starting their new vacation airline from the hubs of Toronto and Montreal. The promise is the vacation starts as soon as you board the aircraft.

    Initially starting with surplus aircraft drawn from the Air Canada fleet, the growth of Rouge is reported to be linked to the introduction of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner to Air Canada which will free up more aircraft for the Rouge fleet. The total Rouge fleet will number 50 aircraft when complete and Air Canada are not anticipating delays in fleet growth due to the electrical problems the Dreamliner is experiencing at the moment.

    The key to Rouge succeeding in a highly competitive vacation market is by cutting costs, which the unions have agreed to, by paying the crews less than crews at Air Canada. Another economy is up to 20% more seats on the aircraft to increase the profit margin of every flight.

    For more information regarding Air Canada Rouge try this link, http://www.aircanada.com/en/about/rouge.html

  • Westjet Encore

    Westjet have announced their first plans to enter the Regional Airline business. The new airline is called Westjet Encore and they will be using Bombardier Q400 aircraft.They are starting by connecting Fort St John and Nanaimo toVancouver and Calgary. This is a natural expansion for Westjet as they will now have a feeder airline to bring passengers to larger centres for onward flight with Westjet. These new routes start in June and they are also starting a Victoria to Vancouver service for less than $100 each way. For more information on the new routes try this link http://www.westjet.com/guest/en/deals/offers/summer-schedule.shtml

  • Air Canada Low Cost Carrier

    Where is Air Canada going with the new low cost carrier they are launching? I don’t mean geographically but in terms of their competition. Is there a niche for a low cost airline operating out of Canada and who are they competing against for your travel dollars? How are they going to differ from the present airline? Well, when they come into service, using 50 aircraft of the present Air Canada fleet, there will be a lot more seats on the aircraft and lower pay for the employees to make the model work.

    The natural competition will be other Canadian based carriers operating to the Caribbean, US and Europe. This means Air Canada as well but this is nothing new for them. They are supplying their regional partner Sky Regional with Embraer aircraft on the corridor route between Toronto and Montreal which competes with Air Canada Jazz.

    The theory with the new low cost airline is to attract the type of passenger that wants to pay less than an Air Canada ticket for a flight to a vacation destination. They are hoping to remove passengers from Westjet, Air Transat, Canjet and other carriers that feed the holiday market.

    An announcement coming soon from Air Canada will give more details of the new airline.

  • Transport Canada Oversight

    Is it working?

    There have been comments in the press, and always will be after an incident, about the lack of oversight from Transport Canada (TC) on the airlines. I work in the industry and have seen the transition from the traditional TC inspections to the self regulating model that has been developed and introduced in the airlines.

    A few years ago the TC inspector responsible for the company would arrange an inspection that took several weeks and delved into all aspects of the organization. This would then result in some findings which would be corrected by the company and all would be well. All it really meant is that the company was off the hook for a few years before they had another inspection.

    The new approach in self regulation, is for the company to carry out continual process auditing which is reviewed by TC when they come calling. This puts the onus on the company to audit, record, correct and follow up to check for effectivity of the corrective actions. TC only have to monitor the results which are presented to them.

    I believe, if done correctly, the airline is safer and processes are inspected more often than the TC inspectors could manage and in greater detail. This should make for a safer environment for the traveler.