MA-60 given clearance to resume flights
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China’s troubled MA-60 aircraft returned to the skies on Monday, less than two weeks after it was grounded over safety concerns.
The turboprop aircraft, which has been involved in a string of accidents over the last five years, was grounded on 27 February 2014 following two incidents involving MA-60s operated by Chinese carriers.
On 4 February the landing gear of a JoyAir MA-60 collapsed on landing at Zhengzhou Airport. Then on 25 February an Okay Airways MA-60 was forced to circle for two hours above Shenyang Airport when a problem was detected with the plane’s landing gear.
But having taken the aircraft out of service for just 12 days, the MA-60’s manufacturer, Xi’an Aircraft Industrial Corporation, has now given it the green light to resume operations. Investigators found that a loose connection was responsible for the Okay Airways problem, and Xian called it a “one-off” incident. The MA-60’s past record however, would suggest otherwise.
In January 2009, an MA-60 operated by Zest Airways in the Philippines veered sharply after landing at Caticlan Airport and crashed into a concrete barrier. Then in 2011 an MA-60 operated by Bolivia’s TAM was forced to land without its front landing year fully deployed, after the mechanism failed.
In 2013 Myanma Airways flight also swerved off the runway after touching down at Kawthaung – one of three separate incidents involving the MA-60 in the space of two months last year, including two in Myanmar and one in Indonesia.
But the most serious incident involving the MA-60 occurred in 2011, when a Merpati flight crashed into the sea off the coast of West Papua, killing all 27 people onboard. Pilot error was blamed for the incident.
There are currently approximately 80 MA-60s operating in the world, all with airlines in Asia, Africa and Latin America.
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