China's AVIC Xi'an Aircraft Industry (Group) has applied to ground its MA-60 planes after two instances of landing gear failure this month, in a move one commentator said could dampen enthusiasm for Chinese-made planes. The mishaps of the small jet add to over a dozen accidents in recent years and amount to unwelcome publicity as Commercial Aircraft of China (COMAC) struggles to develop an airliner to compete with Boeing and Airbus. Xi'an Aircraft applied to the Civil Aviation Administration of China to suspend domestic use of the MA-60 after the landing gear malfunctioned on a plane carrying 38 passengers on Tuesday, state news agency Xinhua reported. The aircraft operated by Okay Airways circled Shenyang Taoxian Airport in northeast Liaoning province for two hours while crew assessed a 'faulty instrument' related to the landing gear, Xinhua reported. Xi'an Aircraft's problems not only put the future of the MA-60 in doubt, but may curb demand for other Chinese-made aircraft, said Wang Xiaohua, a senior consultant at Kent Ridge Consulting in Xiamen. 'The market will be in a panic about these made-in-China small jets and that might also have some spill-over effect for the home-made large commercial jet.'
One wonders what this will mean for Real Tonga...
Source : Reuters, February 27, 2014
Maybe Real Tonga will have a fleet of them for free shortly??? ��
ReplyDeleteYeah, because no other aircraft have ever had in false "unsafe gear" indication warnings.. or a history of gear issues *cough* Dash 8/Q300 *cough*
ReplyDeletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dash_8_landing_gear_incidents
Oh, and Chathams never had any issues with undercarriage on their aircraft while operating in Tonga... Wait, they did.. Queen Air, May 2010, nose wheel collapsed on landing...
But this is the manufacturer asking to ground its own aeroplane!
ReplyDeleteWho cares, if that is the right thing to do. Better than having issues and getting the grounding forced on them. No different than any other OEMs urgent AD.
ReplyDeleteAnd I think the word "grounding" is not accurate. It is getting lost in translation. Xi'an want the aircraft inspected, not grounded indefinitely/for good.
I would rather a the manufacture calls a precautionary grounding and inspection of the Aircraft than a Boeing style 787 FAA/OEM grounding!
And what do people want? Turn your back on safety to save face and continue to have "issues" or fix the problem?
If they did not ground/issue an AD and an accident (another?) happened as a result of this "problem" they would be hung out to dry! (what people want!)
Is this was a Bombardier/Airbus/Boeing/Beech etc "grounding" it would not be such a big deal.
when people from the west go to china to get stuff made they get asked do you want cheap or good and the answer is always cheap. they can build quality so dont write them off they will build top aeroplanes
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