Serious damage to Ansett plane in hangar mishap

Press, 24 April 1987, Page 8

Serious damage to Ansett plane in hangar mishap

By

LES BLOXHAM,

Travel editor

Ansett New Zealand will conduct an in-house inquiry today to find the cause of a hangar incident which seriously damaged one of its two de Havllland Dash 8 aircraft at Christchurch Airport yesterday. Company engineers were testing the engines when the aircraft suddenly lurched forward, hitting a tractor and the wall of the hangar. Two of the propeller blades of the port engine broke loose as they cut through the cab of the tractor. One hurtled into the roof, triggering the automatic sprinkler system and denting the corrugated iron. The aircraft then veered to the right, gash-

ing a hole in the leading edge of the starboard wing. Engineers were on the flight deck at the time checking the engines during routine night-shift maintenance.

No-one was Injured but sources report that the engineers were badly shaken.

The mishap, which has effectively grounded half of the Ansett-Newmans fleet, will cause major disruptions to the airline’s services. Some passengers are being rebooked on Air New Zealand and Mount Cook Airlines flights. ... The airline’s chief executive, Mr Ross Keenan, said that alternatives were being examined in a bid to fulfil schedule requirements. At this stage it is not known how long the crippled aircraft will be

grounded but it is unlikely to be airworthy again for at least two dr three weeks. The port engine is being replaced with a spare from stock but new propeller blades will have to be flown from North America to Christchurch next week. The gashed wing will also have to be repaired and checked for any possible stress damage. Arrangements were being made last evening for the replacement propellers to be flown from Seattle in the first of Ansett New Zealand’s four Boeing 737 s due to arrive in Christchurch on Monday. The incident has been reported to' the Civil Aviation Division of the Ministry of Transport.