REX has grounded 5 other aircraft with the same gear box series
Regional airline Rex has grounded an additional five planes as an investigation continues into how a propeller fell off one of its aircraft as it was approaching Sydney Airport late last week.
Regional Express says the crew had shut down the right-hand engine of the Saab 340 before the propeller assembly "was seen by the first officer to separate from its shaft" on Friday when the flight from Albury was 25 kilometres southwest of Sydney.
"Rex has decided, by abundance of caution, to immediately remove from service and quarantine all propeller gear boxes and shafts of the same series as that of the incident for further inspection and testing if warranted," Rex said in a statement on Monday.
A spokeswoman told AAP five aircraft were grounded in addition to the plane involved in Friday's incident, which has been quarantined.
Two normally operate on Rex's Melbourne network, one is from Sydney and the remaining two are Pel-Air freighters.
"There will be some minor disruptions for one or two days," the spokeswoman said.
The Saab 340's engine was shut down on Friday following "abnormal indications", with the pilot "feathering" the propeller to reduce drag.
Rex grounds planes after propeller mishap
The statement indicating the prop was being feathered indicates it was already shut down at the time of the separation which seems strange to me, what forces could rip a prop of if it wasn't under thrust?