Jetsgo loses engine at YYZ: prompts safety probe
GLOBEANDMAIL.COM
Runway debris prompts safety probe
Planes still landed, took off at Pearson after Jetsgo mishap left metal on ground
By KEITH MCARTHUR AND BRENT JANG
Tuesday, March 8, 2005
Updated at 12:18 PM EST
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada is looking into why seven aircraft used a runway scattered with potentially deadly debris Friday afternoon, after a Jetsgo Boeing MD83 lost one of its two engines at Toronto's Pearson International Airport.
Pilots of the Vancouver-bound flight aborted takeoff at 3:18 p.m. after an engine blew and debris spilled onto the runway.
"The aircraft notified that it had a problem, but did not indicate at the time that there might have been a risk of debris or oil on the runway," said Louis Garneau, a spokesman for Nav Canada, which runs the country's air traffic control system.
Over the next 20 minutes, seven aircraft took off and landed on the runway before Jetsgo advised traffic controllers that it may have spilled oil or debris. Only then did Nav Canada close the runway. Airport officials found an exhaust cone and several small pieces of metal on the runway.
Debris on runways can have tragic consequences. In 2000, a Air France Concorde jet plunged after takeoff from Paris's Charles de Gaulle airport. All 109 people aboard were killed when a sliver of metal from another aircraft punctured one of the Concorde's tires, which exploded and tore through the plane's wing, puncturing a fuel tank.
Jetsgo spokesman Brad Cicero said maintenance had been performed relatively recently on the Jetsgo aircraft's Pratt &Whitney engine.
On Friday, he said, "there were indications of a No. 1 engine malfunction during its takeoff role on the tarmac. Once that happened, the pilot notified the tower of the malfunction and taxied back to the gate."
He said the 66 passengers and six crew members aboard Flight 174 transferred to a different aircraft to resume the flight to Vancouver more than two hours later.
He said the pilot would not have been able to see whether there was debris on the runway because the Boeing MD-83 is a rear-engine aircraft.
Mr. Garneau said air-traffic controllers will shut down a runway if they notice debris, but he added that the tower is 2.4 kilometres from the runway and that controllers did not notice anything unusual after the aborted Jetsgo flight.
Transportation Safety Board spokesman John Cottreau said federal investigators are assessing the Jetsgo case to determine whether it warrants a deeper probe.
Transport Canada spokeswoman Lucie Vignola said the federal department is aware of the incident. Normally, a pilot would "advise the tower" about any engine problems, she said.
Friday's incident is one in a series of problems plaguing Jetsgo Corp., a privately owned company based in Montreal.
"I think that Jetsgo should be grounded temporarily," said Dianne Fraser of Toronto who was aboard another Jetsgo aircraft on Saturday that made an unscheduled stop in South Carolina in an unrelated incident. She said passengers were told that "one of the engines was leaking oil and had to be shut down."
Ms. Fraser said her family went through a "harrowing experience," made worse when "one of the flight attendants at the rear of the plane was praying out loud and crying." The passengers made it safely to Toronto Sunday on a different Jetsgo plane.
In late January, a Jetsgo plane landing at Calgary International Airport skidded partly off the runway and hit a sign, prompting a safety board investigation.
And last month, Transport Canada revoked an operating certificate, forcing Jetsgo to run its flights at lower altitude, which is less efficient for fuel consumption. That certificate has yet to be reinstated.
Just before Christmas, Jetsgo faced thousands of angry passengers left stranded amid flight cancellations in a Toronto winter storm.
The federal Air Travel Complaints Program received 160 complaints in 2004 about the airline, more than triple the number lodged in 2003.