Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways inspect planes after engine trouble

Japanese authorities have ordered Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways to have all of their Bombardier-manufactured turboprop planes inspected, after an incident earlier this month at the Osaka Airport. The engine on a Q-400 turboprop was reportedly damaged right before take-off, causing the pilot to abort the departure at almost the last moment. No passengers were injured during what could have turned into a fatal crash, but Japan’s transport officials are clearly taking no chances and they have decided that the engine in question has to be sent to Canada, where Bombardier will perform the requisite investigation into what may have transpired. According to some reports, a bird may have hit one of the turboprop’s blades, causing some damage.

Bombardier spokesperson Marc Duchesne, however, was quick to point out that Japan did not order a grounding of all 25 Q-400 planes, thus implying that the current incident represented an isolated problem, rather than a more general concern. Bombardier’s turboprop planes have proved to be increasingly popular with many airlines, due to their relative fuel efficiency, as compared to jets of similar sizes. In fact, Malev Hungarian Airlines became the most recent major carrier to announce that it would be ordering turboprop aircraft from Bombardier, in an effort to cut fuel costs. One of the most important operators of these planes, however, is Toronto-based Porter Airlines, which uses these turboprops on all of its regional routes.

Thank you to the Canadian Press (CP) for the initial report.

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