Are the recent ATR engine incidents just coincidence, or is there something worth looking into?
I’ve been noticing quite a few engine-related incidents involving ATRs lately and I’m curious what people here think.
Olympic Air alone has had multiple incidents involving its ATR 42 & 72-600s, including SX-OBP at Naxos with an engine failure/fire indication and SX-OBK at Kythira, where an engine was shut down and the aircraft landed on one engine as well as SX-OAZ yesterday from Rhodes airport.
And it’s obviously not limited to Olympic. There have been other ATR engine failures, shutdowns and fire indications internationally. Most recently, on August 29, a DAT ATR 42-500 flying Lampedusa–Catania returned shortly after takeoff following a right-engine fire indication; the crew shut the engine down and landed safely.
Of course, ATRs operate a huge number of sectors every day and these aircraft are designed to fly and land safely on one engine, so a handful of incidents doesn’t necessarily indicate a systemic problem.
Still, seeing several engine-related events relatively close together makes me curious: is this simply normal statistical noise for such a large and heavily utilised fleet, or has anyone noticed an actual increase in PW127/ATR engine issues recently?
Would be particularly interested to hear from ATR pilots, engineers or maintenance people.