Saab 340 loses a Prop heading towards Sydney...

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Good that the prop sheared off cleanly and apparently hit neither the fuselage, the wing nor the empennage.
The crew was then set up for a single engine approach and landing without further complication although this would have been a startling event. Good on the crew for remaining calm and in control.
Loss of a blade would have had far worse consequences and this has happened with regional turboprops in commercial operations, although never with a Saab AFAIK.
I've always considered the 340/2000 a neat little aircraft and have tried to plan trips to South Florida to connect to one without success.
I don't know whether the tiny carrier that operated them in Florida is still flying.
 
Probably been maintained by Spartan grads.
wink.gif
 
What would it take / what might fail, for a prop to come off like that?

My first thought was the prop threw a blade, but it looks loike the whole thing is gone!
 
The reduction gearbox is exposed so the shaft sheared off. That was likely a fatigue crack that was long in the making.
 
I remember years back being on a regional turboprop (whomever the sub-unit of Delta was in the 90's) from Salt Lake, to Twin Falls, ID, where the one engine just plain didn't work.
they may have gotten it running just long enough for take off, but it was long enough ago, i don't clearly remember.(I was probably 10-12yrs old)

flight was smooth sailing to those of us in the passenger cabin, if you didn't look out the right side windows, you'd never have known only one engine was running...
however if you DID look out those windows, it was a bit jarring for a second to be up in the air, and see the prop stationary...
 
Lucky for them.

I recall an Atlantic Southeast Airlines (ASA) Embraer 120 from ATL to Brunswick, GA experiencing a worse fate.

While on a final approach to what was the former Glynco Naval Air Station, and in severe clear, one of the Pratt turboprops went into a full and uncommanded reverse thrust.

One-half mile from the numbers left little time and altitude for the crew to react.

Witnesses stated they heard a "pitch" change from the engines and the plane immediately rolled over on its back and nosed into the ground.

A witness photo showed nothing more than a large smoking hole.

Senator John Tower was on that flight along with several other good people.

After that incident, there was not a single time that I flew into Brunswick that I did not reflect on that tragedy.

Kudos to the crew of the Saab 340 for their professionalism.
 
They found the prop today in some bush...impressive feat.

Pictures on the news (can't find them online yet) show a pretty gnarly failure point.
 
Uhhmn maybe un related? That is a bit of a stretch. I'd looking hard at the maintenance logs and grilling the sign offs.

Kudos to pilots in both incidents.
 
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