Toronto — Canadian aircraft maker Bombardier asked that all of its Q-400 turboprop planes with at least 10,000 flights be grounded immediately after a Scandinavian Airlines aircraft skidded off a runway with 52 people aboard today, the second such incident in three days.
No one was injured when the landing gear failed, forcing an emergency touchdown down in Lithuania.
However, the incident follows a Scandinavian Airlines crash-landing Sunday in Denmark because of a similar problem. Five people were slightly injured in that incident.
The grounding canceled at least 200 flights worldwide. Both SAS and Horizon Air, a regional carrier operated by Alaska Air Group Inc., each canceled more than 100 flights today to inspect some of its turboprop aircraft.
Bombardier said it affects 60 of the 160 Q400 aircraft they’ve delivered worldwide.
“We decided to go ahead and to inform all our operators that there was a problem and that they should inspect all aircraft with more than 10,000 cycles as a precautionary measure,” Bombardier spokesman Marc Duchesne said.
Denver-based Frontier Airlines is buying Q400 turboprops for a regional service, which is still awaiting Federal Aviation Administration approval.
Frontier spokesman Joe Hodas said the carrier has not yet started flying the planes. He noted the grounding decision involved aircraft that had flown more than 10,000 flights.
Frontier will work closely with Bombardier to determine if any changes are required as a result of its inquiry, Hodas said.
