Montreal-based Bombardier is recommending that some of its Q-400 turboprop planes be grounded for inspection after the model was involved in two recent emergency landings.
The recommendation was made in conjunction with landing gear manufacturer Goodrich Corp. and applies only to planes that have taken off and landed more than 10,000 times.
In total, about 60 of the 160 turboprops in use by airlines worldwide are affected.
The decision comes following two emergency landings in Northern Europe this week.
Early Wednesday, a Scandinavian Airlines Q-400 skidded off the runway and smashed one wing into the ground after the plane's right-side landing gear failed to lower during an emergency landing in Vilnius, Lithuania.
None of the 48 passengers or four crew members was hurt.
Three days earlier, a similar incident occurred involving another plane from the same airline in Aalborg, Denmark.
The plane, carrying 73 people, caught fire after a crash landing. Five people were hurt in the evacuation.
Horizon Air, which operates aircraft on the West Coast and Alberta, said it grounded 120 planes Wednesday to inspect its turboprop aircraft.
The regional carrier, operated by Alaska Air Group Inc., also cancelled another 127 flights scheduled for Thursday.
"We realize -- and greatly regret -- that this proactive measure will result in inconvenience to many of our customers, as flights are canceled to allow for these unplanned inspections," Jeff Pinneo, Horizon president and CEO, said in a press release.
"Safety is, of course, our foremost consideration. Our teams are working around the clock, in conjunction with Bombardier, to complete the necessary inspections and return the affected aircraft to service as quickly as possible."
Bombardier spokesman Bert Cruickshank said Wednesday that it was too early to know exactly what went wrong.
"We have our technical and product safety people working with the operator and working with the authorities,'' he told The Canadian Press.
He said the measures are being taken as a precaution.
"Our plan would be to minimize the impact by performing inspections as soon as possible so that each of those aircraft, in conjunction with their operators, can be inspected and returned to service."
Cruickshank also reaffirmed the good safety record of the turboprop -- which has clocked more than a million flight hours.
"It has proven itself over the past several years to be a good, reliable aircraft,'' he said.
Scandinavian Airlines has grounded its entire fleet of turboprops following the recommendation.
Porter Airlines, which has four Bombardier-build Q400s in use at the Toronto Island airport, is not affected by the recommendation.
A Bombardier spokesman in Montreal told CTV News that all of the company's planes are new and nowhere close to 10,000 landings.
With files from The Canadian Press
