Chartair flight makes emergency landing in Tindal after engine malfunction
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau has warned maintenance engineers to ‘check relevant documentation’ after a charter plane’s engine malfunctioned.
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Charter flight companies across the Northern Territory are being warned against relying on “experience and memory” when servicing planes.
A Chartair plane was taking nine passengers and a pilot from Sawfish Camp to Darwin, but it was forced to make an emergency landing in Tindal after the pilot noticed “abnormal indications” from the right engine on September 7, 2021.
The plane was fixed but forced to make a second emergency landing three weeks later due to similar malfunctions on September 28, 2021.
An Australian Transport Safety Bureau investigation revealed the engine malfunctioned as it had been incorrectly serviced.
The ATSB said the oil lines were able to be fitted incorrectly because they were long and flexible enough to reach the two ports next to each other, the same size, and “almost identical in appearance”.
The ATSB said the misplaced lines were rectified after the plane’s initial emergency landing, but the incorrect oil flow damaged the aircraft’s reduction gearbox scavenge pump.
“This compromised the structural integrity of the pump housing and led to its subsequent failure and, ultimately, abnormal engine indications on the later flight,” it said.
The ATSB found the engine manufacturer issued a service information letter in 1990, warning of similar issues on previous occasions.
“The ATSB reminds maintenance engineers that it is important to check relevant documentation rather than relying on experience and memory, and to remain familiar with other data such as manufacturer service information letters,” it said.
Originally published as Chartair flight makes emergency landing in Tindal after engine malfunction
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