REX SF34 at Ballina on Aug 23rd 2016, engine shut down in flight

Last Update: November 22, 2016 / 18:13:03 GMT/Zulu time

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Incident Facts

Date of incident
Aug 23, 2016

Classification
Incident

Cause
Engine shut down in flight

Airline
REX Regional Express

Flight number
ZL-211

Departure
Ballina, Australia

Destination
Sydney, Australia

Aircraft Registration
VH-ZRJ

Aircraft Type
SAAB 340

ICAO Type Designator
SF34

A REX Regional Express Saab 340B, registration VH-ZRJ performing flight ZL-211 from Ballina,NS to Sydney,NS (Australia), was climbing out of Ballina's runway 06 when the crew stopped the climb at 5000 feet after the left hand engine (CT7) suffered a compressor stall, shut the engine down, entered a hold to burn off fuel and returned to Ballina for a safe landing on runway 06 about 40 minutes after departure.

The ATSB opened an investigation into the occurrence rated an incident.

On Nov 22nd 2016 the ATSB released their final report without a formal conclusion.

The ATSB reported however, that borescopic inspection of the engine did not reveal any damage to the engine. In compliance with the maintenance manuals/engine manufacturer's fault isolation procedures mechanics replaced the hydromechanical unit. Subsequent ground runs of the engine showed no further anomaly.

The ATSB described the events in flight:

Shortly after take-off, the captain called ‘positive rate gear up’ and the first officer selected the landing gear up. While the gear was retracting, the crew heard loud bangs and the left engine performance degraded noticeably, reducing the climb performance. The crew also noticed that the left engine instruments were fluctuating rapidly and indicating a high inter-turbine temperature. At that time, the cabin crewmember advised the flight crew that passengers could see flames coming from the left engine.

The flight crew kept the aircraft tracking straight ahead over water and climbing. Based on the noises and engine instrument indications, the crew identified the issue as a compressor stall and carried out the failure management procedure. This included reducing the power on the left engine and setting maximum continuous thrust on the right. Reducing the power also reduced the banging noises to popping noises.

At about 0639, the first officer contacted air traffic control (ATC) and declared a PAN.1 The crew then commenced the checklist procedures for a compressor stall from the operator’s quick reference handbook. The checklist procedure involves trying to increase the rearward flow of air through the compressor via the low and high pressure bleed valves and the engine anti-ice bleed valves. Although reducing the fuel flow to the left engine reduced the popping noises, the compressor stall continued. The crew therefore commenced the appropriate failure management procedure to shut down the left engine and feather the left propeller.

At about 0650, the crew shut down the left engine and the first officer advised ATC that they had one engine inoperative. The crew also advised ATC that once they had completed their checks, they would return to Ballina via an area navigation (RNAV) approach.

After levelling out at 5,000 ft, the captain completed two to three holding patterns while the crew completed all relevant checklists. They then made an RNAV approach to runway 24. The captain reported that the approach and landing went smoothly and the aircraft landed at about 0720.

During the landing roll, as the captain moved the thrust lever on the right engine from flight idle to ground idle, the aircraft deviated to the right of the runway centreline. The captain later commented that this was probably associated with asymmetric propeller drag (the left propeller was feathered and the right propeller generated more drag as the right thrust lever was moved into ground idle). The captain moved the right engine thrust lever forward, out of ground idle, and the aircraft straightened up. The taxi to the bbay was uneventful. There were no injuries to crew or passengers and no damage to the aircraft.