Bombardier Supports Transport Canada Airworthiness Directive Related
to Recent Q400 Landing Gear Issue
- Investigations still ongoing
- Proactive measures to result in highly rigorous inspections
TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - September 12, 2007) - Today,
Transport Canada issued an Airworthiness Directive (AD) applicable to
Bombardier Q400 turboprop aircraft following two recent incidents of
right main landing gear collapse.
Bombardier has been working closely with safety and regulatory
authorities to establish a proactive course of action to ensure a
high level of safety is maintained. The AD, effective immediately,
requires the operators to implement the following corrective actions:
All Q400 aircraft operators must conduct a general visual inspection
of the left and right main landing gear system and main landing gear
retract actuator jam nut. This applies to all Q400 aircraft.
Furthermore, the AD requires that a detailed visual inspection of the
main landing gear retract actuator be immediately conducted on
actuators that have accumulated 8,000 or more landings, or been in
service for more than four years since new, whichever comes first.
Bombardier estimates that this affects approximately 85 Q400
aircraft.
Newer actuators will also be inspected with varying timelines
depending on the age of the actuator.
"We understand that this proactive measure will unfortunately
inconvenience many of our customers and their passengers. However,
safety remains our primary concern. We are working diligently with
our customers to ensure the affected aircraft return to revenue
service as quickly as possible," said Steven Ridolfi, President,
Bombardier Regional Aircraft.
Bombardier has sent two separate air safety teams to the sites of the
two recent incidents to assist in the investigations involving the
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.
Bombardier continues to provide its support to the investigations
being conducted by the Danish and Canadian regulatory 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.
For information:
Please call the spokesperson dedicated to your time zone and leave a
message.
A spokesperson will call you back as soon as possible.
Contacts:
Asia-Pacific
Bert Cruickshank
416-375-3030
bert.cruickshank@aero.bombardier.com
Europe
Alec McRitchie
44 77 53 85 18 13
alec.mcritchie@aero.bombardier.com
North America
Marc Duchesne
514-855-7989
marc.duchesne@aero.bombardier.com
www.bombardier.com
