Incident Overview
On March 30, 2011, at about 1946 eastern daylight time, a Bombardier Inc. CL-600-2B19, registration N8505Q, operated by Pinnacle Airlines as flight 4067, landed at the Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW) near Detroit, Michigan. The aircraft sustained no damage; however, its right wheel well bin was found missing after the flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the incident. The flight was a scheduled domestic passenger operation under 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 121 on an activated instrument flight rules flight plan. The captain, first officer, flight attendant, and 24 passengers were uninjured. No injuries on the ground were reported, and the bin has not been located. The flight originated from the Theodore Francis Green State Airport near Providence, Rhode Island, about 1823.
Flight Crew Actions
During the flight, after landing gear retraction, the flight crew received an engine indication and crew alerting system main landing gear overheat fail message. The flight crew performed the quick reference handbook procedures, but the message persisted. Throughout the remainder of the flight, the message appeared every 15 to 20 seconds and remained on for no more than about five seconds. The flight crew contacted maintenance control and were advised that the flight could continue to DTW since the message was intermittent. Upon landing at DTW, the crew noted a rise in the left side temperature indicated on the brake temperature monitoring system.
Discovery and Inspection
During troubleshooting of the main landing gear overheat fail message, maintenance personnel at DTW discovered that the right wheel well bin, part number 601R31039-162, which incorporated a temperature sensor, had departed the aircraft. Federal Aviation Administration inspectors examined the airplane and main landing gear (MLG) wheel wells. The MLG wheel well bin is attached to the fuselage with 11 fasteners. Inspectors took photographs revealing that three fasteners remained in place, with torn sections of the wheel well retained under their heads.
Maintenance History
According to the operator, the MLG wheel bin is removed for scheduled maintenance at 100-hour intervals. The last maintenance involving removal and installation of the wheel well bin was repair of a flap discrepancy on March 24, 2011. After release from maintenance on that date, the airplane completed 29 flights without incident. At the completion of the incident flight, the airplane had 68.5 hours remaining until the next scheduled inspection requiring removal of the MLG wheel bin.
Operator's Response
Following the incident, the operator published a warning in their airplane maintenance manual fuselage aerodynamic faring section. The warning stated: "Do not use electric, battery or pneumatic powered screw guns to secure MLG wheel bins. Doing so could cause damage to the fasteners and could cause departure from the aircraft."