Parking brake malfunction leads to collision damage for Perimeter Aviation turboprop.
Key Points:
- A parking-brake failure due to chafing caused a Dash 8-300 to roll forward during its engine start-up at Lansdowne House airport.
- Unable to halt the aircraft because the left-hand engine wasn't running, the plane hit a fence and a parked pick-up truck.
- The damaged brake line and radome were promptly fixed, and the aircraft was soon back in operation.
WINNIPEG — A parking-brake malfunction led to a collision incident involving a De Havilland Dash 8-300 turboprop, Canadian authorities revealed. During its engine ignition procedure, the aircraft unexpectedly advanced due to a failure in the brake system. The aircraft, belonging to Perimeter Aviation, was gearing up for a flight to Winnipeg from Ontario's remote Lansdowne House airport on 10 August.
A report from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada detailed that the crew had initiated the right-hand Pratt & Whitney Canada PW123 engine with the parking brake engaged, as is standard procedure. However, a worn-out brake flex line resulted in a hole, causing the Dash 8 to set in motion towards a chain-link boundary.
At the time of the incident, the left-hand engine, which powers the standard brake system, hadn't been activated. This left the crew powerless to halt the aircraft's forward motion. Although they managed to deactivate the right-hand engine, they couldn't avert the inevitable. The plane first clashed with the chain-link fence before crashing into a truck stationed on the other side.
Thankfully, none of the 30 passengers aboard the Dash 8 sustained injuries. The impacted plane, identified by the Transportation Safety Board as C-GJYZ, had its initial delivery to SA Express, a South African operator, back in 1994.
Following the event, maintenance staff addressed the brake line issue and repaired the aircraft's radome. The plane has since been reintroduced to the skies.
