Q400's

[7600736]

Yet another Q400 incident, this time a Westjet flight to Nanaimo. What is it with these things?

[motokelowna1]

Built by Bombardier so who would fly with a Bomb in its name ??

[7600736]

Bombardier normally builds excellent aircraft - they inherited the DeHavilland legacy, which is renowned for building tough, rugged, reliable planes. Even the Dash 8's, which preceded the Q400's, are excellent. So why are the Q's so problematic? Trying to be too many things in one package, perhaps.7

[squash junky]

Doubt that percentage wise the Q400 has more tech probs than other types of airplanes.
You probably hear about probs more often because it's closer to home.

[7600736]

They have their quirks, and their APU's are problematic, but their dispatch reliability seems good. WestJet has more 737's than Q's, but the Q's seem to have more issues.

[rookie314]

Nothing

[Omnitheo]

I fly these on a weekly basis.

In light of the crash of Colgan Air flight 3407, the Bombardier Q400's safety record has come under scrutiny by the public. When taking a look at the safety records of the Bombardier Q400 (officially known as the Dehaviland DHC-8-400) it is shown that the safety of the Bombardier Q400 (DH8D) is very good. In the National Transportation Safety Board's (NTSB) incident database there are only 4 incidents in the database since the aircraft was certified by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on January 26, 2000 (as of the date of this article). Only one had to do with the Bombardier Q400's systems. Outside the United States the Bombardier Q400's safety regarding it's landing gear also came to light when SAS Scandinavian Airlines had a reoccurring problem in 2007 with the landing gear collapsing or not fully extending on landing; no one was hurt in these incidents. The issue was mostly isolated to SAS's procedures and was resolved by Bombardier rather quickly. The only fatal crash is the Colgan Air one, which was determined by the NTSB that the flight crew was at fault, confirming the Bombardier Q400's safety. De-icing systems on the Bombardier Q400 were confirmed to safely work in a proper manner.

Bombardier Q400 Turboprop Safety Record Overview:

The Bombardier Q400 was built under the Dehavilland Dash-8 series, a series of planes made to be the most versatile regional turboprop. The Dash-8 series aircraft were made to land not only on paved runways, but also on gravel, grass and dirt runways. The Bombardier Q400 continued this theme of durability and continues to be a safe airplane. Comparing the Bombardier Q400 safety records to other aircraft show that it is a safe and reliable aircraft. The aviation community around the world also agrees because it has gained type certificates from many of the government aviation regulators around the world.

When compared with other airliners, he dash-8/q400 has an excellent safety record.

[christopher]

I fly once a week on Q400's for the past 2 years I think the plane is good The biggest thing with this plane to me is people with too big of carry on plus a backpack. Trying to find room in the overhead storage holding up boarding time. The early morning flight is good but by 10 am they seem to be running late and I have missed connecting flights due to this. Enforcement of the carry on rule is needed.