HALIFAX -- The agency looking into an aborted takeoff that damaged a patrol aircraft at the Greenwood base in Nova Scotia is focusing on the plane's propellers and why they failed to go into reverse as the pilot tried to end the mission.
Lt.-Col. Martin Leblanc of the military's Directorate of Flight Safety says the Aurora aircraft went off the runway on Aug. 27 when the aircraft commander ordered the pilot to end the takeoff because a flock of birds was heading towards the runway.
He says that investigators have found in an interim report that when the pilot selected reverse on all four propellers, the two on the right side of the aircraft continued to produce some forward thrust.
"We would expect all propellers would respond in the same fashion and this is not the case here," Leblanc said in a telephone interview from Ottawa on Friday.
Leblanc says the investigators still aren't certain why that occurred, but the safety agency decided against requesting the Aurora fleet be grounded.
He says a review showed no evidence of similar issues with propellers in other aborted Aurora takeoffs in recent years.
"We looked back into the history of the fleet and the types of accidents we've had, looking at specific engine and propeller configuration, and we couldn't see a trend developing here that would cause us to have concern about the flying status of the aircraft," said the officer.
Leblanc also says at this point it's premature to call for a fleetwide inspection.
"If you call a special investigation you need to be clear what you need to look for, and at this point we don't have any information on what to look for," he said.
The Aurora was carrying 17 people at the time, but nobody was injured when the patrol plane went off the runway.
The lieutenant colonel said the Greenwood base has methods to control birds and other wildlife and at this time the safety agency isn't recommending any immediate changes in that area.
He says the inquiry will continue to look at what, if any, role human error and the takeoff abort procedure played in the incident.
The officer says the next step in the inquiry is to finish a first draft and circulate it to interested parties. The goal is to finish the investigation within a year of incident, he said.
He said the aircraft is currently being assessed to determine if it can be repaired.
- Source: http://atlantic.ctvnews.ca
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