I had almost 3,000 hrs on the F27 + F227 and always felt totally sure that they would get me home safely as long as they were well looked after....Which isn't always easy as they are both very simple and very difficult to maintain at the same time....Our Engineers always said that the F27's were better built, but the pneumatics were difficult compared to looking after hydraulics, and were always the most frequent problem with our machines....
Phrase ' built like a brick sh*thouse ' could have been invented for the F27, and we gave up our last machines just a few of years ago in favour of ATR's only for the economics of running and, in particular for us, maintaining the Darts, not the airframe.... Perhaps a similar issue here with engine maintenence ??
I wonder how many 45 years old ATR's will be on active service when the time comes....I'd guess not many ! And I'm certainly not going to volunteer to test for the outcome of an incident like this on an ATR....
As for this incident, absolute respect and total applause to the crew who must have had a brown trouser moment few of us are ever likely to experience and to have got the machine and themselves safely back down when their minds ( and imagination ! ) must have been somewhere, anywhere, else when they heard the noise of the fuselage ripping and could only hope the flight controls were not damaged....And, for you non-freightdogs, at 01.10 when your levels of alertness and concentration are not at their best no matter for how long you've been regular night flying....
Chapeau, gentlemen !!