ATR crash: premature failure of landing gear part is suspected

A LANDING gear component two years into an eight-year lifespan is suspected to have failed and caused the Blue Islands ATR42 crash landing, the airline said yesterday.

The incident happened at 8.23am on Saturday and no one was injured.

The left-hand landing gear collapsed causing the plane to veer down the runway and damage its wing.

'As we expect to see in the Air Accidents Investigation Branch official report, our initial investigations indicate that shortly after a safe landing, during the roll-out phase, a component on the left-hand landing gear failed, causing the aircraft to give way,' Blue Islands managing director Rob Veron said.

'We suspect this is a premature failure of a component part which is just two years into an eight-year life.

'We now await the outcome of the official AAIB report.'