REGIONAL Express Airlines (Rex) has doubled down on reaffirming the safety of its fleet of SAAB 340 aircraft, despite the activation of emergency protocols three times at the Mount Gambier Airport since November last year.
It follows the most recent incident, which occurred Friday morning, when a “loud bang” was heard aboard flight ZL3752 shortly after take-off.
Pilots had to shut an engine down and initiate emergency protocols before returning to the airport and landing safely around 35 minutes later.
Rex said emergency services were in attendance on Friday at the airport for the arrival of the plane as required by procedure.
“This requirement is not necessarily a direct indication of the severity of any occurrence as the procedures cover a multitude of scenarios, many of which have no relevance to the safety of the aircraft,” a Rex spokesperson said.
“Regional Express (Rex) flight crew are trained to respond in accordance with standard operating procedures when dealing with occurrences such as the return to land (incident) at Mount Gambier last Friday of ZL3752.”
The incident was the second in as many months, after a plane travelling from Melbourne to Mount Gambier experienced an indication associated with the aircraft’s left engine on descent in May.
Emergency service personnel were called to the regional airfield on that occasion as a precautionary measure.
On November 16 last year, a plane en route to Adelaide was returned to the Mount Gambier Airport as a “precautionary measure” after a cockpit indication activated 17 minutes into the journey.
Despite the prevalence of the incidents, Rex reassured the community their fleet of aircraft were “maintained”.
“The Rex fleet of 60 SAAB 340 aircraft, are maintained in accordance with a rigid system of maintenance designed by the Original Equipment Manufacturer, SAAB and approved by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority,” a Rex spokesperson said.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) said there had been no investigations into the first two incidents, however they were gathering information about Friday’s incident.
“The ATSB is currently gathering further information into a reported engine issue involving a Saab 340 which made a precautionary landing at Mount Gambier on June 21,” a spokesperson said.
