EU seeks 'crisis' Q400 turboprop meeting
European officials Monday called for an "immediate crisis meeting" to discuss the safety of Bombardier Inc.'s Q400 "Dash 8" turboprop planes.
The call followed an accident Saturday in which a Q400 operated by Scandinavian Airline Systems AB skidded along a Copenhagen runway after a landing gear failure.
The accident, which caused no serious injuries among the 44 people on board, was the third European-airport crash-landing of the Q400 regional aircraft in n seven weeks.
The European Union's European Aviation Safety Agency said it was "very concerned" about the accidents and called for "an immediate crisis meeting to discuss the continued airworthiness" of the aircraft.
It set no date for the meeting.
SAS, of Stockholm, Sweden -- the leading carrier in the Scandinavian countries -- permanently grounded its 27 Q400s Sunday.
"We need to get rid of these planes. They are damaging SAS and its brand," President Mats Jansson said.
The decision to ax the planes -- thereby canceling about 100 flights Monday and Tuesday, mostly out of Copenhagen, Denmark.-- was made at an extraordinary board meeting, Stockholm's The Local newspaper reported.
SAS said it would replace the turboprops with other planes in its fleet and with leased aircraft.
Bombardier, of Montreal, said it was disappointed by SAS's decision and insisted the Q400 was reliable. // Copyright 2007 by United Press International
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