Regional Express Delays/Cancellations

ZL768, the 1045 hours ABX - SYD on Friday 17 March had a nasty incident near Camden, NSW at about 1200 'high noon' when a propeller sheared off. Fortunately nobody on the flight or on the ground was injured:

Propeller takes flight, forcing emergency landing | The Border Mail

The 'Aviation Herald' report has some good pictures:

http://avherald.com/h?article=4a651f6e&opt=0

Perhaps St Patrick was looking after them given Albury's Catholic heritage.

Note that there were only 16 passengers aboard (and three crew.) These planes seat 33 so occupancy was just under 50 per cent.

The aircraft was SAAB340B (of course, as that is the sole type Rex operates) VH-NRX. This aircraft entered service with a USA carrier called Business Express on 25 March 1992, then transferred to the USA's PenAir with first flight with it on 5 January 2004 and finally had its initial Regional Express flight on 1 October 2004. It has not long had its 25th birthday according to www.airfleets.net (which must be calculated from the date of signing of acceptance rather than its first flight), so as with almost all of Rex's aircraft it is 'old' in RPT aviation terms (although I assume that does not mean it is 'unsafe': the latter depends on the standard of maintenance, but advice from aviators on that general observation would be good.)

Not great publicity for Regional Express given on some non-subsidised routes such as ABX- SYD it competes with QantasLink and sometimes Virgin Australia Regional Airlines, and occasionally with smaller carriers such as NTL - SYD. Rex also has some government contracted (that is, subsidised) routes in far north and western Queensland as well as Western Australian routes (and not forgetting the rustbucket state called South Australia and the more enterprising state of Tasmania) so no doubt many bureaucrats nationwide will await the usual initial ATSB summary and much later the full report.

Out of interest, how much would a propeller on this model of plane weigh?

Have there been any other incidents of propellers shearing off on turboprops used for RPT ('regular public transport') in Australia in the last 20 years? None quickly come to mind.

It will be interesting to see if this serious incident (albeit completed with a safe landing) leads to questions from authorities as to the age of Rex's fleet versus the maintenance. About 12 months ago I started a separate thread discussing whether or not Rex would replace (in time) its SAAB340Bs. This would be a major expense for an airline that makes fairly small profits at best.

One of our respected AFF aviators sometimes patronises Regional Express from ABX so it will be fascinating to read what if any perspective such AFF members have, bearing in mind that overall, aviation is very safe.

Doubtless it will be a while before VH-NRX operates another flight. At its age, would it be scrapped? QF's Nancy Bird Walton, a younger, far larger and many times more expensive aircraft was returned to service after the QF32 incident:

https://qf32.aero/photos-qf32-repair-and-return/
 
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On Saturday 18 March, ZL563 (SAAB340B VH-KRS, the 1115 hours PKE - BHS) took off at 1319 with a 125 minute late arrival at 1355 predicted.
 
Here is a passenger's account of the Friday 17 March propeller loss incident (see two posts above):

Regional Express passenger recalls moment propeller disappeared before her eyes

The ATSB has issued an initial notice:

https://www.atsb.gov.au/publications/investigation_reports/2017/aair/ao-2017-032/

As I surmised above, complete investigation will take time, with the ATSB suggesting that completion will be in March 2018.

VH-NRX remains out of service, not surprisingly, and presumably will be for some days at the very least.
 
Sunday 19 March 2017 sees ZL833, the 1710 hours late afternoon DBO - SYD that was in the sky at 1851 (SAAB340B VH-EKH) likely to be on blocks at its destination at around 1936, 76 late.
 
On Monday 20 March, ZL954, the 0820 hours SYD - ARM took off at 0850. SAAB340B VH-KRX is expected to arrive at 1011, 36 minutes tardy.
 
Regional Express has withdrawn some of its SAAB340B planes for inspection. This will lead to numerous cancellations and delays, although we may see some amended schedules such as SYD - BHS - PKE - SYD or similar to try to keep various airports serviced:

Nocookies | The Australian

It does not say how many of its SAAB340Bs will be temporarily withdrawn or how long it may take before these return to regular public transport duties.

Did Rex really do this voluntarily or was it 'pushed' by regulators?

The headline to 'Google' is 'Rex grounds planes after propellor mishap' if the pay wall defeats you.

On Monday 20 March, ZL3872, the 1315 hours MEL arrival ex KNS did not land until 1514 hours.
 
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On Monday 21 March, ZL629, the scheduled 1655 hours late afternoon BHS - SYD took off at 1729 with VH-RXX. It should arrive 43 late at 1828 early this evening.

The 1640 hours GFF up to SYD that took off at 1711 (VH-VNA) should arrive at 1902, 62 minutes late given the storm in and around SYD.

ZL134 from coastal MYA up to SYD, the 1640 hours was not in the sky until 1801. SAAB340B VH-PRX should arrive at 1917 instead of 1740, a deficit of 97 minutes.

The SYD - OAG shortish hop (ZL178, the 1615) did not take off until 1834 (about two hours tardy) with arrival of SAAB340B VH-ZRM suggested as 1923, 138 minutes late.

Perhaps as a result of Rex's reduced fleet (see above), ZL468 (1230 hours lunchtime GFF - SYD) took off at an extremely late 1750 with arrival in SYD (in heavy rain) expected at 1934 hours instead of 1350. Aircraft is SAAB340B VH-ZXS.

ZL344, the 1745 hours from SYD up to GFN (VH-ZRH) was airborne at 1929 hours so it should arrive at around the 2021 hours mark, 71 minutes late.
 
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The Wednesday 22 March 2017 ZL139 (1850 hours SYD - MYA, SAAB340B VH-ZRB) took off at 2020 so it should be at its seaside destination at around 2110, 90 minutes behind schedule.
 
On Thursday 23 March 2017, ZL3653, the early morning from MQL down to MEL has been significantly delayed with arrival likely at 1000 instead of 0750.

ZL3763, as a result, from MEL to MGB has been delayed in its departure from 0835 to about 1030.
 
Also on Thursday 23 March, a concerning serious incident involving an engine failure, flames and embers on a Regional Express flight from DBO to SYD. There is vision (or should be) in this 'SMH' link:

Rex flight en route to Sydney makes emergency landing at Dubbo Airport

I assume that this was ZL825, the 0945 hours DBO - SYD.

Will this incident lead to yet more temporary part fleet withdrawls for Rex?

The Albury - Sydney incident was concerning enough, even though the SAAB340Bs can fly on one engine: two incidents, however, in a week may raise real concerns about the standard of maintenance.

Unfortunately the ATSB is extremely slow to issue final reports for any transport accident or incident it is tasked to investigate, although many are complex and analysis doubtless takes time, and some may argue the ATSB demonstrated a lot of pig-headedness in relation to the embarrassingly unsuccessful Malaysia Airlines search. Former Emirates pilot Byron Bailey certainly would!
 
At least light fog was forecast for MEL's Friday 24 March morning.

ZL3653 from MQL to MEL (the 0630 hours that took off at 0719, VH-RXQ) should arrive 56 minutes late at 0846.

VH-ZXG on ZL3151 from ABX down to MEL, the 0655 hours, took off at 0751 with arrival suggested as 0847, 52 minutes tardy.

ZL3257 (0645 hours WGA - MEL, VH-ZLG) was airborne at 0746 so arrival should occur an hour late at 0900.
 
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On Tuesday 28 March, the evening (1915 hours) from SYD to PKE (SAAB340B VH-ZRB) was airborne at 2033; arrival is predicted as 2130 hours, 70 late.
 
The Thursday 30 March ZL824 (0815 hours SYD - DBO, SAAB340B VH-VNA) is half an hour late and should arrive at 0955 hours.

The very short flight from BNE to WTB, ZL5662 (VH-ZLS) took off at 0842 so is expected to arrive at 0910, 35 late.
 
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later on 30 March, ZL9913, the 1330 hours SYD down to MYA took off at 1431 with SAAB340B VH-KRX so it wilol be about 40 minutes late to its beachside destination.
 
VH-KRX is enroute back to SYD from MYA/MIM As ZL114. Then it is supposed to operate SYD-WGA-SYD as ZL677 and 678
There will be some delays there. Rex online is not revealing any disruptions for for the WGA rotation. However ZL114 will not arrive in time for a proper departure of ZL677.

Luckily there is lots of time at WGA to turn around - nearly 1 hour which a Saab340 does not need.
 
On Sunday 2 April, ZL174 (1140 hours SYD - OAG) took off at 1243; arrival of SAAB340B VH-ZRH should be at about 1325, 55 minutes late.

ZL936 from SYD to MQL is expected to arrive at around 1410, 40 late with VH-VNA.
 
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VH-ZRB on Sunday 2 April took off from PKE about an hour late at 1740 as timetabled departure (not takeoff) time was 1620 hours. ZL527 should arruve SYD at about 1847, 87 minutes late as it had a 'hold' along the way plus a northwards deviation via Parramatta accounting for the loss of time enroute. It looks like then forming a delayed ZL836, the 1805 SYD - DBO as its fifth sector for the day.

VH-RXX (ZL139, 1850 hours SYD down to MYA that was airborne at 1923 hours) should arrive at around 2020, 40 minutes tardy.

ZL3286 (1735 hours MEL - WGA) took off at 1902 with VH-ZXK; arrival is expected at about 2009, 84 minutes late.

ZL3683 (1730 hours MQL - MEL that was airborne at 1823, VH-ZLX) should be at its arrival designated tarmac spot at 1954, 64 minutes behind the schedule.

The 1745 hours MEL - MGB, ZL3783 did not become airborne until 1916, so arrival of VH-ZRL should be at 1949, 84 late.

ZL783, the 1715 hours SYD - ABX (VH-VNA) was not airborne until 1959; arrival should be at 2115 tonight, 155 minutes behind schedule.

While there are multiple possible reasons for flight delays and one swallow does not a summer make, today's weather around SYD and MEL has been benign (though flooding remains a major problem in northern NSW), which raises the question: are these delays in some way connected to the withdrawal of at least five of Rex's SAAB340Bs due to the propeller 'incident' over Camden recently, plus two other 'incidents?'
 
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On Monday 3 April, ZL658, the 0530 hours WGA - SYD did not take off until 0641, so arrival of VH-ZLG is predicted to be 0750 hours, 70 minutes late. The BOM is not indicating that fog was evident at WGA this morning so yesterday's late arrivals may have meant a compulsory late start this morning due to fatigue regulations.

Similarly ZL762, the 0530 hours ABX - SYD was airborne at 0715 with VH-VNA; arrival should be at about 0807, 72 minutes tardy.

ZL3653 from MQL to MEL, the 0530, took off at 0645; arrival is predicted for VH-SBA at 0811, 81 minutes behind schedule.
 

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