Air Transport

Australian civil aviation authorities are investigating two separate aircraft component failure incidents involving local carrier OzJet.

The Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government says in a statement that the Australian Transport Safety Bureau is investigating the two incidents and preliminary reports are to be issued in 30 days.

The first occurred on 29 December, involving the failure of a wing component on a Boeing 737-200 operating a passenger flight from Brisbane to Norfolk Island.

The second incident occurred on 31 December involving another 737-200 operating from Port Moresby to Brisbane, in which a broken elevator balance tab was discovered.

“The Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) is aware of the two incidents and is collecting information on both,” says the Department.

“CASA is not proposing further action until the results of current inquiries are fully evaluated. CASA will continue to closely monitor the operations of OzJet.”

It adds that “there have been no significant issues raised during recent surveillance and oversight of OzJet”.

The statement comes after Australian media reported that in the Brisbane-Norfolk Island incident passengers were told to prepare for an emergency landing attempt on water after the aircraft shook violently following the failure of the wing component.

Source: flightglobal.com's premium sister news service Air Transport Intelligence news