Turboprop accident rate concerns safety experts

Constant crew turnover, dangerous flying conditions and under-equipped airports are some of the problems that airlines flying turboprop fleets face in the Asia-Pacific.

by CHIEF CORRESPONDENT, TOM BALLANTYNE  

October 1st 2016

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In its analysis of the turboprop market, released at the Farnborough Air Show in July, European aircraft manufacturer, ATR, announced that in the next two decades sales of turboprop airplanes would be heavily tilted towards the Asia-Pacific. Read More »

It forecast that 27% of the 2,800 turboprops scheduled to be delivered in the next 20 years were destined for the Asia-Pacific and another 11% would be delivered to China. The aircraft would support the launching of 3,000 plus routes of which 1,400 of the new destinations would be in the Asia-Pacific, said ATR.

As the volume of turboprop flying increases, aviation safety experts have called for a renewed focus on turboprop safety. “Turboprop operations represent 20% of global operations, but make up almost 60% of the industry’s hull losses. It is quite an alarming number when you think about it,” the technical director of the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA), Martin Eran-Tasker, told delegates at the organization’s annual aviation safety seminar (APASS) held last month in Tokyo.

“If we actually look at the turboprops, we have seen an increase within the region. We have seen a significant number of orders and a lot more operations. You see turboprops more often in a domestic operation, but in the Asia-Pacific we are seeing them operating more regionally,” said the AAPA technical director.

“They fly in jungles, into small islands or in mountain ranges in very extreme conditions, which explains some of the challenges they have. So we need to have a separate focus on these sorts of operations to identify the priorities they are experiencing.”

There has been on one major turboprop accident in the region this year. In Nepal, a Tara Air Twin Otter crashed in Solighopte in the Myagdi district, killing all 23 passengers and crew. Nepal has had several accidents in recent years. As a result, the country has been identified as a significant safety concern by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), which is working with Nepal’s aviation department to improve regulatory oversight.

In Taiwan, a TransAsia Airways ATR 72-600 crashed into the Keelung River in February last year shortly after taking off from Taipei Songshan Airport. There were 53 passengers and five crew on board and only 15 survived. Seven months earlier, another TransAsia ATR slammed into a building during an approach in bad weather at Magong Airport on Penghu Island. The accident took the lives of 48 of the 58 people on board.

Eran-Tasker displayed a graph at the Tokyo conference that showed major jet accidents have been declining to a record low level, but turboprop accidents have been rising worldwide. “If we look at performance over many years, we can see the (graph) lines are diverging. It’s not the sort of picture we want to see,” he said.

“Fortunately, in the last 12 months, there has been a significant improvement. It is starting to come together, but we can only wait to see if that trend is consistent over time. There is a strong message here. We need to look a little closer at some of the turboprop operations.”

AAPA director general, Andrew Herdman, said: “Turboprops and small regional jets play an important role in serving short-haul destinations and are a key part of what this industry provides to the public.

“These types of operations have some unique characteristics – difficult terrain, maybe small islands, maybe mountainous areas. Often, they are flying into airports that cannot be served by larger jet aircraft. Some of these airports are not well equipped with the latest navigation aids.

“What we have said is that it is helpful to focus on regional operations and turboprop operations and to share best practice about these types of operations.”

One of the big challenges for turboprop operators was cockpit crew retention, said Herdman. “Turboprop carriers often are hiring young pilots and many of them take the job to work their way up to jets. So you have quite a lot of turnover. Experience levels and training is a constant challenge.”