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Accident: Cessna 208 float plane takeoff accident East River, New York
22 July 2017
ATSB: In-flight collision at Parafield, Australia concluded as wildlife strike, not a drone
On 11 July 2017, a SOCATA TB-10 Tobago aircraft collided with an object at approximately 6.30pm during its final approach at Parafield Airport in South Australia.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) commenced an investigation as initial information suggested that they aircraft may have hit a drone. Swabs were taken of the damaged area on the leading edge of the right wing. Those swabs were tested for DNA by the Australian Museum, and the results have established that the object struck was a grey-headed flying fox.
This finding is consistent with the known behaviours of flying foxes, who can travel up to 50 kilometres from their roosts to feed at night. Adult grey-headed flying foxes have an average wingspan up to 1 m (3.3 ft) and can weigh up to 1 kg (2.2 lb).
As a result of this evidence, the ATSB is discontinuing its investigation, concluding the cause of the incident was wildlife strike.
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ATSB issues investigation update of Saab 340B in-flight loss of propeller incident
The ATSB issued an update of their investigation into the in-flight loss of a Saab 340B propeller in March 2017.
Since the occurrence, the ATSB has been working closely with the engine manufacturer, GE Aviation, in order to establish the factors that led to cracking and fracture of the main propeller shaft from the Regional Express (REX)-operated SAAB 340B aircraft, VH-NRX.
The engine manufacturer’s preliminary metallurgical analysis of the fractured shaft has identified that fatigue cracking in the propeller main shaft originated within a dowel pin bore that was located on the forward face of the propeller flange from the propeller reduction gearbox (PGB). Their analysis indicates that the initiation of fatigue cracking within the hub flange may be associated with a combination of factors that include:
- the accumulation of significant operational hours for each propeller reduction gearbox
- the development of pitting corrosion damage within the dowel pin bore and at the front face of the propeller flange
- progressive wear and subsequent surface damage of the hub flange at stress-critical regions surrounding the dowel pin.
GE Aviation have released two service bulletins (SBs) to help understand the potential fleet risk for fatigue cracking in other CT7 PGB main propeller shafts.
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