Fight over averted plane crash…………
A report in the Australian says that safety investigators have called for extra warning devices to be installed on a popular make of aircraft engine after a tourist flight narrowly escaped disaster in Tasmania.
The issue has put the Australian Transport Safety Bureau and the Civil Aviation Safety Authority at loggerheads days after the Howard Government announced an inquiry into potential problems with their relationship.
CASA says stricter maintenance controls will prevent the engine failure that crippled the Tasmanian Cessna 208, but the ATSB has called for chip detectors to be installed on passenger planes.
The disagreement stems from an incident in February last year in which engine failure forced the pilot of a Cessna 208 floatplane with 10 passengers to ditch in a Tasmanian lake.
Investigators said passengers were saved by the pilot promptly diverting to Lake Burbury after an engine warning light came on. “Within minutes of the warning light illuminating, the engine failed completely and the pilot was able to conduct a forced landing into the lake,” they said.
The ATSB found the engine failed because a problem with the generator led to electrical discharge damage. EDD is a problem with Pratt & Whitney PT-6 series turbo-prop engines fitted to Cessna 208s and the ATSB has investigated similar events previously.
The investigation found the warning light from an accessory gear-box chip detector was instrumental in warning of impending engine failure and allowing the pilot time to land safely.
Investigators said the inquiry resulted in safety actions by the aircraft and engine manufacturers and CASA, which issued mandatory maintenance requirements and airworthiness bulletins to reduce the possibility of EDD.
But the ATSB believes outstanding safety issues need to be addressed.
The bureau has issued recommendations to Transport Canada, Cessna and Pratt & Whitney about changes it believes should be made, including the installation of gearbox chip detectors on all Cessna 208s.
It said the systems should be mandatory on all Cessna 208s on commercial flights in Australia.
But CASA says proposed mandatory maintenance requirements aim to prevent an EDD event before an engine failure, and that the chip detector would be of marginal benefit, it at all.
Report by The Mole
John Alwyn-Jones
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