The Tribune

By KHRISNA VIRGIL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

A BAHAMASAIR plane was forced to abort a flight and return to the airport following power loss in one of its engines yesterday, company General Manager Henry Woods confirmed.

Speaking to The Tribune, Mr Woods said the aircraft with 25 adults and two infants on board, had just left the Fort Lauderdale International Airport, when the captain discovered that there was engine difficulty. They were en route to Freeport, Grand Bahama, with another stop planned for Nassau.

Within moments, Mr Woods said, the captain of flight 142 made a decision to abort the flight and return to the airport.  He insisted that Bahamasair was not at fault and that the plane landed safely without incident.

The passengers were transferred to another aircraft and given meals because of the delay, Mr Woods said.

“Technicians in Fort Lauderdale,” Mr Woods said, “are working on it right now and we expect to have the plane fully functional and serviced by this afternoon. This incident has nothing to do with upkeep or maintenance on our part.

“The pilots are trained to handle these sorts of situations. Realising a reduction in engine power, the flight was aborted. The engines are still under warranty so the manufacturer has advised us to change two of the main components.”

Two weeks ago, Bahamasair executives said they were conducting an internal review of the circumstances that led to an engine fire on board a commercial flight to Eleuthera.

The right engine of a Bahamasair Dash 8 aircraft, according to reports caught fire during an early morning flight from Nassau to Rock Sound International Airport on June 5. The plane was reportedly 25 miles away from the airport when the incident occurred.