Engine trouble forces two Rex flights to cancel departure in 24 hours

[jakeseven7]

Mmmmmm

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Engine trouble forces two Rex flights to cancel departure in 24 hours​

Two flights operated by regional airline Rex have been forced to abort take-off in the past 24 hours due to smoke coming out of an engine.

The captain of a flight bound for King Island and Burnie was forced to evacuate the plane at Melbourne Airport shortly before departure on Tuesday afternoon after it was alerted to flames coming out from the airplane’s left-hand engine.

Passengers were forced to jump onto the tarmac to escape the plane.

Engine trouble forces two Rex flights to cancel departure in 24 hours

In one of the incidents, passengers on a flight to King Island were told to disembark by jumping onto the tarmac, injuring a passenger.

www.theage.com.au

 

[AIRwin]

Saab but the Age had a photo of a B737...

 

[jakeseven7]

It’s Qantas / Virgins fault

 

[Hvr]

Some first hand accounts:

Passengers told to 'jump' off plane at Melbourne Airport

Multiple callers to 3AW Drive have detailed how they had to jump off a light plane at Melbourne Airport. A Rex flight bound for King Island was evacuated at around 1:45pm on Tuesday afternoon due to engine problems. Some passengers were assisted by security, others had to make the 1.5 metre leap...

www.3aw.com.au

 

[flydoc]

Some first hand accounts:

https://www.3aw.com.au/passengers-told-to-jump-off-plane-at-melbourne-a

A light plane ...

 

[jakeseven7]

It’s COVID’s fault.

Wonder if it is a coincidence or symptomatic of Rex’s maintenance program…

 

[jb747]

A light plane ...

Well, the 767 was referred to as the “light twin” by some/many.

 

[Michaael]

At least the propeller didn't fall off mid flight like last time Rex made the news for its maintenance

 

[drron]

In the 3AW report I noted this -

Listener Pamela told Tony Jones no stairs came for the evacuation

But the Saab has built in stairs that are pretty quickly deployed.

 

[eastwest101]

In the 3AW report I noted this -


But the Saab has built in stairs that are pretty quickly deployed.

On the main left cabin door yes, there are collapsible articulated stairs which the flight attendant can deploy, on the emergency exit front right/"service door" there are no stairs or a slide so its a fair drop down ( I imagine this emergency exit is more intended for when the fuselage is on the ground, eg: a "real" emergency or a crash on land). I have never seen this front right "service door" actually used as a service door but maybe it was in the original design?

With this one being a suspected engine fire or at least smoke - provided they are still pointing into the wind - I would be using one of the two front doors myself if possible. If I had just had knee surgery or didn't like heights or feel particularly fit and mobile I would probably be waiting for the flight attendant to open the stairs and using them on the main left front cabin door.

Similarly, the over wing exits on the Saab 340 can be used with landing gear down and again, a bit of a drop off the wing onto the ground, unless the plane is already sitting on the ground. On the water these are the only emergency exits that should be used because the left and right front cabin doors might be below the waterline and opening them will will just fill the plane with water if ditching on water.