Incidenti DHC8 SAS presso Aalborg e Vilnius

[Matte87]

<h3>Bombardier Makes Recommendations Following Recent Q400 Aircraft Right Main Landing Gear Incidents</h3>

Toronto, September 12, 2007

-Inspection of Q400 aircraft main landing gear having accumulated more than 10,000 cycles highly recommended

A second incident has occurred involving the collapse of a right main landing gear shortly after touchdown on a Q400 aircraft operated by SAS. The first incident occurred at Aalborg, Denmark on September 9, 2007. The second incident occurred on September 12, 2007 at Vilnius, Lithuania. There were no reported injuries amongst the crew of four and 48 passengers on board the second aircraft.

As a precautionary measure, Bombardier and Goodrich, the landing gear manufacturer, recommend in an All Operator Message (AOM) that operators of Q400 aircraft having accumulated more than 10,000 landing gear cycles (a cycle is one take-off and landing), be grounded until an inspection of the landing gear is carried out.

Bombardier has delivered more than 160 Q400 aircraft to airlines around the world, of these there are currently about 60 Q400 aircraft with more than 10,000 landing gear cycles.

Transport Canada (TC) has been briefed on these recent events and Bombardier is working with TC to establish the requirement for further corrective actions, if required.

A Bombardier Air Safety representative has been dispatched to the second incident site to provide assistance to the investigating authorities. Until such time as investigations are concluded by the relevant aviation authorities, Bombardier cannot speculate or comment as to the cause of these incidents.

About Bombardier
A world-leading manufacturer of innovative transportation solutions, from regional aircraft and business jets to rail transportation equipment, Bombardier Inc. is a global corporation headquartered in Canada. Its revenues for the fiscal year ended Jan. 31, 2007, were $14.8 billion US and its shares are traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange (BBD). News and information are available at www.bombardier.com.

Bombardier and Q400 are trademark(s) of Bombardier Inc. or its subsidiaries.

Fonte:http://www.bombardier.com/

 

[I-DAVE]

SAS returns Dash8/Q400 to traffic

Following an extensive inspection program and parts replacement, SAS is now
returning Dash8/Q400 aircraft to traffic. Flights will begin on Thursday and
more aircraft will successively return to traffic after testing and parts
replacement have been completed.

SAS chose to ground the entire Q400 fleet following two accidents, in Aalborg on
September 9 and Vilnius on September 12, to replace parts identified as the
cause of the accidents. This involved an actuator in the main landing gear that
was affected by corrosion.

At an early stage, SAS decided to replace all actuators, whether they showed
signs of corrosion or not. Accordingly, SAS took actions that went a step
further than those required by the civil aviation authorities and the aircraft
manufacturer.

SAS has conducted extensive inspections of the main landing gear and the nose
gear, and undertook much more comprehensive inspections than those required by
the civil aviation authorities and the aircraft manufacturer. Thereafter, the
aircraft that are now being returned to traffic have undergone extensive test
flights and have received the necessary airworthiness certificates from the
authorities.

Eight of Scandinavian Airline's Q400s are now ready to return to traffic - five
in Denmark and three in Sweden. Test flights of the remaining aircraft in the
fleet are continuing and they will be returned to traffic successively. In
Denmark, the first flight will be to Hamburg on Thursday and in Sweden the first
flight will be to Örnsköldsvik. In Denmark, there will be a total of seven
flights with the Q400 on Thursday and in Sweden four flights. SAS expects that
it will be able to offer its full traffic program not later than October 15.
Wideroe plans to put three of its four Q400 aircraft in traffic on Thursday and
the fourth on Sunday.

SAS will initiate discussions with Bombardier regarding compensation for the
costs and lost income incurred due to the aircraft being grounded for about
three weeks.

SAS Group Corporate Communications

DaV

 

[I-DAVE]

Ricevuto or ora da SAS:

Dash 8 Q400 construction error

SAS has made a thorough technical examination of the landing gear on the Dash 8
Q400 aircraft that were taken out of service after the third accident involving
this aircraft type in autumn 2007.


"We are waiting for the Accident Investigation Board's final conclusion, and
don't want to speculate about the reason behind the third accident. We can
confirm, however, that our technical department has found problems in 63 per
cent of the SSV valves on the inspected aircraft that we have permanently
grounded after the accidents last autumn. SAS had no possibility of - and cannot
be blamed for not - discovering these problems, or the undetected error that
caused the first two accidents, in the course of its maintenance work", says
Claus Sonberg, Executive Vice President of Corporate Communications in the SAS
Group.

The Danish Accident Investigation Board has previously concluded that a
construction error in the actuators was the cause of the first two accidents
involving a Dash 8 Q400. The Accident Investigation Board has not presented any
conclusion on the reason behind the third accident, but has in a provisional
report stated that the most likely reason is that an O ring came loose from the
SSV valve in the hydraulics system in combination with the following
fault-tracing. The SSV valve also has a construction error and is currently
being modified by the supplier.



SAS Group Corporate Communications