Plane Landed Safely At Wichita Eisenhower National Airport

One of the three test aircraft for Bombardier's Global 7000 program suffered an engine failure at 41,000 feet on August 15, but the crew was able to land the aircraft safely on one engine at Wichita's Eisenhower International Airport.

The Wichita Eagle obtained a preliminary report from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada which indicated that the aircraft was in fact one of the three test articles in the Global 7000 test fleet. It is undergoing flight testing at the Bombardier Flight Test Center at the Wichita airport.

According to the report, the plane was about 156 nautical miles west of the airport on August 15 when "it experienced an inflight flameout of the right engine following high vibration and high Inter Turbine Temperature (ITT) readings.”

The test pilot crew declared an emergency and returned to the airport on one engine. In a statement, Bombardier said that the pilots "followed standard procedures and returned to base uneventfully.”

The Global 7000 will be the first to fly with GE Aviation's new Passport Turbine Engine, which is also assembled in Kansas. It was certified by the FAA in April, 2016.

"Bombardier and GE have determined that the root cause of last week’s reported occurrence was an isolated event," Bombardier said in the statement posted on its website. "The Global 7000 aircraft program’s flight and ground test campaigns continue on track for entry-into-service in the second half of 2018."

(Source: Bombardier and as cited. Image from file)

FMI: www.bombardier.com, Original Report