Maintenance Issues - Including a Tail Strike at Bundaberg - Affect Recent Flights in and out of Central Queensland Airports

I've been made aware of a few incidents that have affected various flights in and out of some Central Queensland Airports over the last week.  Perhaps the most serious occurred at Bundaberg Airport last Sunday 27 October where the tail 'skid' of a Virgin Australia Regional Airlines ATR 72 made contact with the Runway.

Passengers on board the Virgin ATR 72-600 - believed to be VH-FVP operating as VOZ1701 from Brisbane - have told local media outlets of a rough landing, after the plane's rear 'bumper' came into contact with the runway.  Reports suggest that the plane remained 'grounded' with passengers still on board for some time after the landing.

ATR 72 VH-FVP at Bundaberg Airport in May  (File photo taken by 'IAD'  ©)

A Virgin spokesperson said during a routine post-flight inspection, the pilot identified "possible wear" on a rear bumper, a part which protects the aircraft in the event of ground contact.  As a standard operating procedure, engineers were flown from Brisbane to Bundaberg to inspect the aircraft and confirm it was unaffected.  The aircraft departed Bundaberg just after 8.30pm that night, operating the delayed return VOZ1702 service to Brisbane.

On Wednesday 30 November, fellow Virgin ATR 72 VH-FVZ touched down at Emerald Airport after operating the scheduled mid-morning VOZ1259 service from Brisbane.  It was noted that VH-FVZ did not depart Emerald until around 11pm that night, re-positioning back to Brisbane as VOZ9502.

Also at Emerald Airport but on Saturday 2 November, QantasLink Dash-8-Q400 VH-QOR, operating as QLK533D from Longreach to Brisbane, diverted into Emerald about an hour into its flight.  VH-QOR remained parked at Emerald, as fellow Dash-8-Q400 VH-LQM ferried into Emerald from Brisbane as QLK670D before departing with the Longreach passengers for Brisbane.  VH-QOR ferried back to Brisbane later on Saturday as QLK671D.

And finally at Mackay Airport, QantasLink (Cobham Aviation) Boeing B717-200 VH-NXJ touched down early on Saturday 2 November from Brisbane as QJE1760.  It remained parked at Mackay until the early afternoon where it departed back to Brisbane empty as QJE6200.  Fortunately, fellow B717 VH-NXN was able to pick up some of the stranded passengers, also operating in and out of Mackay as QJE1764/1765.