Tarjet: Is that all you could think up?
What about:
737's that roll inverted and dive into the ground, all by themselves
747's that mysteriously explode in flight
Embraer 145s that break in half on landing
Fokker 100s that lose their mainwheels
Any Airbus having a bad computer day
The list goes on...
Funny, I have been flying it for a couple of years now and have never had a flap fault, or water in the E&E bay, or a door "fall" of its hinges, or had the AP fail to capture. Like any aircraft, it has its idiosyncrasies. Just had a mate on the phone last night complaining about the "idiosyncrasies" of the 737 he flies, which frankly make the 146 look quite clever. Oh, and another point... try comparing accident rates between the two types (look at hull loss for example). 146 wins that argument too.
Belgique:
The PE article is CRAP.
For example:
>> The landing had to be made automatically <<
Really? No autoland in this baby.
>> The cause is easy enough to identify – a broken or damaged engine oil seal which allows organophosphates from the engine oil to enter the cabin via the air conditioning system. <<
WRONG. The oil companies tell us that the organophosphates only separate out from the oil at very high temperatures, typically 400C if memory serves correctly. Not likely in an AC pack. I am told that extensive testing carried out in the UK failed to find any trace of organophosphates in the blood of those affected by fumes incidents.
>> Rollbacks – another quirk unique to the 146 – occur when all engine power is lost at altitude <<
NONSENSE. It might be one engine, it might be all four, and the situation is easily recoverable. If you read the report on the one serious incident of rollback, you will find some serious crew errors in the way in which that flight was handled- their "recovery" actually made the problem worse, and was not the action recommended in the SOPs.
>> ...and are also caused by the same design deficiency. <<
Rollbacks are caused by fumes in cabin? BULL! The two problems are COMPLETELY unrelated. Rollback is caused by ICING!!!
>>The fumes incidents are likely to get worse as the aircraft age and get more leaky. <<
RUBBISH! The age of the engine has NOTHING to do with the age of the airframe- we have some 20 year old airframes with one or more new engines! Also, any leaking seals and the engine is immediately pulled.
>> He’s one of a growing band of engineers and scientists who believe that the 207 BAe 146’s flying world-wide should be grounded. <<
Hope he wants to ground 757/767 and MD80 aircraft as well, because they have also had several documented fumes incidents!!!
You should all know better than to believe this stuff!