Invisible cracks ground fleet
Cracks in the landing gear forced Air New Zealand to ground its fleet of Beechcraft 1900D commuter aircraft yesterday.
About 60 flights were cancelled, affecting about 1000 passengers, after a safety “issue” was found during routine inspection of one of the 19-seat aircraft on Tuesday night.
It is understood that engineers found cracks in the actuating component of the rear landing gear of one aircraft. Other aircraft were immediately inspected and the decision was made to ground the fleet.
A 1900D made a bellylanding at Blenheim airport in June after the wheels failed to extend.
A check of the fleet at that time using electronic testing equipment failed to detect any problems with the landing gear of other aircraft.
An Air New Zealand spokeswoman said Tuesday’s inspection was routine, and had nothing to do with the continuing investigation into the Blenheim incident.
The Transport Accident Investigation Commission report into the bellylanding was still being prepared.
Sources said the invisible cracking had been detected on Tuesday by using ultrasound equipment, which was ordered after the Blenheim bellylanding.
It was the first time the equipment had been used.
Nine of the 17 aircraft were back in service by midday yesterday.
Five required new actuators and would be flying again by tomorrow.
The actuators cost about $US5000 ($NZ6700) to replace. The airline expected the rest of the fleet to be inspected by last night.
Air New Zealand was confident most of its services would operate as scheduled today.
However, some services might be operated by other regional aircraft in the fleet.
Passengers on cancelled services yesterday had travelled by road or been rebooked.
Air New Zealand bought the 1900D fleet new about five years ago and the aircraft were operated by Hamilton subsidiary Eagle Air under the Link brand.
The airline was understood to have raised the issue with the aircraft’s American manufacturer, Raytheon, which said it was the first time the problem had been detected.
The Civil Aviation Authority has also been notified of the fault.
Report by The Mole
John Alwyn-Jones
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