Embattled South African regional carrier Airlink has grounded its entire British Aerospace Jetstream 41 turboprop fleet, after another safety incident.
The carrier has acted after a Jetstream yesterday aborted take-off from Nelspruit, in the northeast of the country, when it suffered a component failure in one of its engines.
Investigation of the incident has found that one of the Honeywell TPE331 engines suffered a failure of a turbine seal plate component.
Airlink says that the failure bore similarities to the engine problem which contributed to a fatal Jetstream crash at Durban on 24 September.
"The safety of our passengers, crew and equipment is our top priority," says the airline.
"While our crews are trained to deal with engine failures on take-off, we share the South African Civil Aviation Authority's view that - in light of two such failures in several weeks - this represents an unnecessary and unacceptable risk."
It claims, however, that the maintenance of the turbine seal plate is beyond its control because the component is selected and installed by Honeywell.
Airlink's accident at Durban was followed by two other serious events over the following weeks, which prompted a close inspection of its procedures and Government-level concern over the carrier's operations.
The carrier was permitted to continue flying earlier this month, on condition that it address issues picked up during the inspection.
Airlink has around a dozen Jetstreams and the grounding has forced it to shuffle its timetable and hire external capacity.
The airline's chief executive, Rodger Foster, says that the Jetstreams will stay out of service until Honeywell and the airframer, BAE Systems, have "identified and implemented a remedy".
Airlink points out that other types of aircraft in its fleet are unaffected and are operating flights normally.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
