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Passengers who boarded a FIFO flight in WA heard a loud bang and felt a “severe vibration” when the propeller blade of their aircraft sheared off.
An ATSB report into the incident in November last year at Fortnum in the state’s Murchison region revealed how the blade struck matting laid over the top of the gravel apron.
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The aerodrome manager even witnessed the blade fly “50 to 100 metres” into the air before passengers safely disembarked the aircraft.
“The installation of the matting was a non-standard method to prevent propeller damage and was not subject to any installation specifications or inspection requirements,” said the ATSB’s director of transport safety, Stuart Macleod.
“As this occurrence demonstrates, the consequences of a propeller strike can be serious, and operators of aircraft and aerodromes are advised to review the use of any non-standard surfaces for aircraft movement areas.”
The full report into the incident, which took place on 17 November 2022, reveals how the flight crew of the Beech 1900D, operated by Penjet, refuelled and then boarded passengers at Fortnum Aerodrome for a flight to Perth.
The runway, taxiways, and parking area at Fortnum are gravel. At the time of the incident, there were designated parking areas with pieces of conveyor belt matting fixed to the ground, intended to allow engines to be operated with minimal propeller damage from loose gravel.
“As the flight crew was conducting pre-take-off checks, the end of the conveyer belt matting under the left propeller was drawn into the propeller arc, resulting in a sheared propeller blade and vibration damage to the aircraft,” Macleod said.
In addition to the detached propeller blade, another propeller blade snapped approximately 250mm from the blade tip, and the left engine propeller governor control arm fractured.
There was also buckling to the left engine firewall and cracking to the nacelle structure adjacent to the engine mount.
Since the incident, the aerodrome operator has removed the strips from the apron.
