Qantas today announced that five Bombardier Q400 ( Dash 8 ) aircraft operated by its regional airline QantasLink had been temporarily removed from service following an inspection by the airline of a main landing gear component.
Qantas Chief Executive Officer, Mr Alan Joyce, said the inspections, and subsequent action, were initiated by Qantas following incidents experienced by another Q400 operator overseas and after discussions with the manufacturer.
Does this remind you of anything? … The never-ending story of the Q400 gear problems …
I was pleasantly surprised in May when I got to fly one of these Qantas Q400s from Sydney to Albury when I was back home (they even had a few pages dedicated to this aircraft in their Qantaslink magazine about how they were replacing the Wagga Sydney route). From a passenger standpoint, this aircraft is better than the previous model which I had to sit on the flight back.
Is the landing gear issue anything to do with the length of the strut? Perhaps there have been no issues on previous models, so I am lost as to why they are reporting difficulty with this one – anyone know what changes were implemented? I am also assuming the landing gear issue is with the back?
I know my post is off topic – and my apology to the list for doing so – but I am surprised at the seeming lack of coverage to – what appears to have been – an uncontained fan failure of Qantas’ flight 74 last night.
http://www.ktvu.com/news/24823452/detail.html
The still photos are quite alarming.