The European Aviation Safety Agency last month determined that the failure of the main landing gear of a Scandinavian Airlines Q400 on October 27 did not result from a design flaw, and that the latest incident bore no direct relationship with the two earlier cases that led to the grounding of the airline’s entire fleet of 74-seat turboprops. Scandinavian airworthiness authorities have therefore reissued airworthiness certificates for the type. Nevertheless, as of press time SAS hadn’t reversed its October 29 decision to ground the fleet of 27 airplanes permanently, a move that has so far resulted in the loss of 230 jobs at SAS Sweden.
Preliminary findings by Danish investigators identified a blocked orifice within an actuator assembly as the culprit in the latest accident. The mishap occurred when Flight SK2867 from Bergen, Norway, landed at Copenhagen International Airport with its right main landing gear only partially extended. The flight carried 40 passengers and four crewmembers, none of whom suffered injuries.
