Q400’s

[Snagglefoot]

Here are a couple of Q-400’s at the Canadian Rockies International Airport at Cranbrook, BC, YXC. Two airlines service us with nonstops to Calgary and Vancouver. The airlines are Westjet and Air Canada.

The Q-400’s are an improvement from the earlier Dash 8’s. Cruising speed is over 400 mph. Enjoy.

 

[Astro14]

They are an improvement on paper - but the dispatch reliability has been atrocious. One of the least reliable airplanes built in the past few decades. Several Express Carriers in the US bought them, only to dump them a few years later after so many cancellations.

When I saw a Q400 at the gate for my commuter flight, I started checking traffic reports because I knew I would be in my car soon enough.

 

[Snagglefoot]

They are an improvement on paper - but the dispatch reliability has been atrocious. One of the least reliable airplanes built in the past few decades. Several Express Carriers in the US bought them, only to dump them a few years later after so many cancellations.

When I saw a Q400 at the gate for my commuter flight, I started checking traffic reports because I knew I would be in my car soon enough.

Aren’t you a ray of sunshine!

 

[Geekhead]

Here are a couple of Q-400’s at the Canadian Rockies International Airport at Cranbrook, BC. Two airlines service us with nonstops to Calgary and Vancouver. The airlines are Westjet and Air Canada.

The Q-400’s are an improvement from the earlier Dash 8’s. Cruising speed is over 400 mph. Enjoy.

View attachment 292574View attachment 292575

Nice aircraft, was in the DeHavilland factory at Downsview a few times back when they were built there untill 2022. Porter has 29 in fleet which fly from the Toronto downtown airport. I was once on the old Dash 8 from Toronto to Montreal.

 

[y_p_w]

Unfortunately, I'd think the thing it's most known for was the Horizon Air incident where the an employee took one for a joyride but couldn't land it.

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattl...seattle-tacoma-international-airport-crashes/

 

[Astro14]

Aren’t you a ray of sunshine!

If you had experienced even a fraction of the cancellations I have on that pile of junk, you would loathe them, too.

A Dash-8 is a paragon of reliability by comparison, give me an ancient Dash-8 over this thing any day.

Literally dozens of times that I had to drive ORF-IAD as the result of Q-400 mechanical issues. It’s cost me a lot of both money and time because it would break so often.

 

[Snagglefoot]

If you had experienced even a fraction of the cancellations I have on that pile of junk, you would loathe them, too.

A Dash-8 is a paragon of reliability by comparison, give me an ancient Dash-8 over this thing any day.

Literally dozens of times that I had to drive ORF-IAD as the result of Q-400 mechanical issues. It’s cost me a lot of both money and time because it would break so often.

Wow. They are in service with Air Canada and Westjet. Maybe the American mechanics didn’t know how to maintain them? Who knows? I’ve never seen one late.

 

[edyvw]

Wow. They are in service with Air Canada and Westjet. Maybe the American mechanics didn’t know how to maintain them? Who knows? I’ve never seen one late.

European companies bought them too and ditched them for A220, E170-195, or ATR.
They are nice when they fly, but the airplane sales died as soon as issues became apparent.

 

[Snagglefoot]

European companies bought them too and ditched them for A220, E170-195, or ATR.
They are nice when they fly, but the airplane sales died as soon as issues became apparent.

Well, I posted two pictures of two Q400’s sitting on the same Tarmac at the same time. Interesting shots I thought. Certainly interesting because they were turbo props. The plane was in production for over 20 years and there are still 342 of them are flying all over the world.

 

[edyvw]

Well, I posted two pictures of two Q400’s sitting on the same Tarmac at the same time. Interesting shots I thought. Certainly interesting because they were turbo props. The plane was in production for over 20 years and there are still 342 of them flying all over the world.

Compare that to 1300 ATR 72-500/600.
And that airplane had its own set of issues.

 

[Astro14]

Wow. They are in service with Air Canada and Westjet. Maybe the American mechanics didn’t know how to maintain them? Who knows? I’ve never seen one late.

What a smug post. You should be embarrassed.

Since those “American mechanics” had no problem maintaining the -8 100s, and -8 200s, which I praised in my post, it’s not the mechanics.

If you really want to dig into the numbers, there were 1,300 of the type (-100, -200, -300, and the Q400) built, and they have been involved in 80 crashes and incidents. One of the highest rates of any airplane ever built.

The number of landing gear failures in the Q400 resulting in crashes is remarkably high - over a dozen. 8 failures in 2007 alone. For a production run of about 500, that’s shocking. Most of them were due to a manufacturing defect, by the way, not a local mechanic problem.

SAS had three gear failures on landing in one year and immediately took the airplane out of service.
Not a lot of fatalities, though the airplanes were wrecked, but perhaps that’s why the airplane has fallen out of favor so rapidly.

It just kept on crashing.

 

[ctechbob]

Unfortunately, I'd think the thing it's most known for was the Horizon Air incident where the an employee took one for a joyride but couldn't land it.

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattl...seattle-tacoma-international-airport-crashes/

More like 'didn't want to land it'.

That kid was on a mission, and he wasn't coming back from it. Thankfully he didn't take anyone else all. All things considered, he did a fantastic job flying it while it was in the air.

 

[Astro14]

More like 'didn't want to land it'.

That kid was on a mission, and he wasn't coming back from it. Thankfully he didn't take anyone else all. All things considered, he did a fantastic job flying it while it was in the air.

That was one of the more famous incidents with the airplane. But in 2009, Colgan Air 3407 was more impactful.

Prior to the mid air collision over the Potomac, the last fatal accident in the US was Colgan Air 3407. While pilot error was the root cause, the airplane’s sensitivity to icing was a factor.

It was a Q400.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colgan_Air_Flight_3407

 

[Snagglefoot]

That was one of the more famous incidents with the airplane. But in 2009, Colgan Air 3407 was more impactful.

Prior to the mid air collision over the Potomac, the last fatal accident in the US was Colgan Air 3407. While pilot error was the root cause, the airplane’s sensitivity to icing was a factor.

It was a Q400.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colgan_Air_Flight_3407

Thanks for being a staff member. I don’t want to see anything get carried away so I will leave you to it. I posted two photos of an interesting plane and can clearly see the plane didn't meet with your approval. Your posts are always welcome.

 

[Astro14]

Thanks for being a staff member. I don’t want to see anything get carried away so I will leave you to it. I posted two photos of an interesting plane and can clearly see the plane didn't meet with your approval. Your posts are always welcome.

My being a staff member is irrelevant. We were having a professional discussion, in which we disagreed, right up until this comment:

Wow. They are in service with Air Canada and Westjet. Maybe the American mechanics didn’t know how to maintain them? Who knows? I’ve never seen one late.

In which you bashed another country. Smug, stereotyping, whatever, it wasn’t professional.

Normally, we don’t allow bashing, but I let the comment stand, for all to see, and offered my rebuttal, not as a staff member, but as a professional in the industry.

If I were acting as a staff member, I would not have replied.

 

[dnewton3]

Astro14 has a well-earned reputation for a high knowledge base in the airline industry. I have full confidence in his claims and take him at his word in this regard.

Let's leave the country bashing out of this, shall we?

 

[Snagglefoot]

My being a staff member is irrelevant. We were having a professional discussion, in which we disagreed, right up until this comment:



In which you bashed another country. Smug, stereotyping, whatever, it wasn’t professional.

Normally, we don’t allow bashing, but I let the comment stand, for all to see, and offered my rebuttal, not as a staff member, but as a professional in the industry.

If I were acting as a staff member, I would not have replied.

You may have the last word.