A pair of engine incidents on Rex Saab 340Bs has once more put the highlight on the airline’s ageing fleet.
A flight from Sydney landed in Damaged Hill with one functioning engine on Saturday, days after an engine hearth in Adelaide compelled the evacuation of one other Rex flight to Damaged Hill, making it the second engine malfunction on a Rex plane in lower than every week.
VH-KRX, a 33-year-old Saab 340B, was working flight ZL6854 from Sydney to Damaged Hill on Saturday morning when passengers heard “an odd sound” and the right-hand engine stopped.
One passenger, Damaged Hill councillor Darriea Turley, stated the airplane didn’t divert however continued for about an hour and a half earlier than touchdown in Damaged Hill.
“We needed to then go decrease to the bottom to limp throughout and it appeared like we have been flying endlessly with just one engine,” she informed the ABC.
“That was terrifying at each stage as a result of if there was any noise you assume, ‘What’s taking place to the opposite engine?’
“In case you are a nervous flyer, this may have been your worst nightmare.”
Rex later stated the flight crew had seen a cockpit warning mild, which prompted them to close down the engine.
“Rex Airways flight ZL6854 from Sydney to Damaged Hill this morning acquired a flight deck indication related to the plane’s proper engine whereas en path to Damaged Hill,” the airline stated in a press release on Saturday.
“The crew adopted commonplace firm working procedures and carried out a precautionary engine shutdown. The plane landed usually in Damaged Hill at 9:56am.”
A spokesperson for the ATSB confirmed the security watchdog was conscious of the incident.
“An in-flight engine shutdown involving a Rex Saab 340 on a flight from Sydney to Damaged Hill has been reported to the ATSB, and the ATSB is gathering additional info as to the incident’s circumstances to tell an investigation resolution,” the spokesperson stated.
The incident on Saturday got here after one other engine malfunction final Wednesday aboard flight ZL4818, operated by 29-year-old VH-ZPN, which noticed passengers evacuated and the runway at Adelaide Airport shut down for round 20 minutes on account of a short engine hearth.
Rex informed the ABC that the pilots had shut down the engine and rejected take-off after receiving a “cockpit indication”, after which some unburnt gasoline briefly ignited.
The regional airline at the moment has a fleet of round 57 Saab 340Bs with a median age of over 30 years, which has confirmed a barrier to a possible sale from administration.
A report this yr from Airservices Australia discovered that the common age of planes working non-capital routes is round 24 years, 9 years older than planes on capital routes.
