On the Beech - Airline cancels 60 provincial fligh

[Peter Lewis]

Airline cancels 60 provincial flights

26 September 2007
Air New Zealand subsidiary Eagle Air has cancelled 60 flights after discovering what it calls an issue with an undercarriage component on a Beech 1900D aircraft.

The fault was discovered during routine maintenance last night and the company decided to inspect its entire fleet of 17 Beech 1900D airliners, saying safety is paramount.

Nine of the aircraft have since been certified and are back in service. Five require replacement parts, and are expected to be back in service within 48 hours. The remainder will be inspected by the end of the day.

The airline says the flight cancellations affect around 1,000 customers. It apologises for the inconvenience. It says CAA and the aircraft manufacturer have been notified and are being kept informed.

Eagle Air is a provincial carrier specialising in operating low capacity aircraft on low traffic, low density routes.

home.nzcity.co.nz/news/default.aspx?id=77177&fm=psp,tst

[flyjoe180]

At least they found the problem and are fixing it. Sign of a good safe organisation if you ask me. The media will have been waiting for something to do with the gear after the wheels up at WB.

[corsair67]

Eagle Air planes back in air by tomorrow
| Thursday, 27 September 2007

Air New Zealand link carrier Eagle Air hopes to have all its Beech 1900D aircraft back in the air tomorrow after 17 were grounded when a safety issue with the undercarriage was identified.

But 540 passengers have had to make alternate travel plans as the company cancelled 36 flights today.

After an inspection of the fleet, nine of the 17 planes were back operating yesterday with another two airborne today, airline spokeswoman Tracey Palmer said.

The final six aircraft were awaiting replacement parts for an undercarriage component, which were due to arrive tomorrow from the United States.

These aircraft were expected to return to service within 48 hours, Ms Palmer said.

Customers who were affected by the cancellations were either rebooked on alternative services or transported by road.

In June, an Eagle Air Beechcraft 1900D made a belly landing at Blenheim airport when its landing gear failed to come down.

That landing was being investigated by both the Transport Accident Investigation Commission and Eagle Air.

Air New Zealand said the inspection was routine, and had nothing to do with the ongoing investigation into the June incident.

NZPA