Virgin Australia Airlines under investigation after plane’s engines ‘flame out’

CANBERRA: The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) has launched an investigation into Virgin Australia Airlines over a ‘serious’ incident at Canberra airport, local media reported yesterday.

The ATSB announced it would investigate the airline, which is one of Australia’s largest, over the incident whereby two engines on an ATR 72 twin-engine aircraft “flamed out” during descent on a flight from Sydney to Canberra on Dec 13.

As a result, the aircraft, which can carry up to 78 passengers, had no engines for five seconds midair and was only moments from crashing, reported Xinhua news agency.

According to flight data, the aircraft remained in Canberra for three days following the incident but returned to operations on Monday and has since completed 11 flights.

“While the aircraft was descending through 11,000 ft in heavy rain, the right engine’s power rolled back (decreased) and the engine flamed out. The engine automatically re-started within five seconds,” the ATSB said in a statement on Tuesday night.

“The descent continued and, while passing through 10,000 ft, the left engine’s power also rolled back and that engine flamed out before automatically relighting. The crew selected manual engine ignition for the remainder of the flight and the landing.”

The investigation is expected to continue into late 2019 but the ATSB said it would immediately publish any findings that were a threat to public safety.

“Should a critical safety issue be identified during the course of the investigation, the ATSB will immediately notify the relevant parties so appropriate action can be taken,” it said.

Virgin Australia responded to the investigation by saying that “there was no customer impact” from the incident and that “safety is always our number one priority.”