Incident Overview
On January 3, 2017, a SAAB-340A aircraft operated by SprintAir S.A. experienced a power lever malfunction during flight. The crew was conducting an initial descent to land at Kyiv-Zhuliany Airport (UKKK) in Ukraine when they discovered that the right engine (No. 2) power lever was locked in the cruise power position and could not be moved. The decision was made to return to the home airport, Warsaw Chopin Airport (EPWA).
Crew Actions
Unable to reduce power on the right engine, the crew decided to shut it down. The engine was turned off at flight level 100. The aircraft then performed a single-engine landing on runway 33, which was executed normally. Prior to the shutdown, the crew consulted with the technical department regarding the procedure, as this specific scenario—shutting down an engine in flight with no capability to reduce power—was not covered in the Quick Reference Handbook (QRH).
Probable Cause
The investigation determined that the likely cause of the incident was freezing of the control cables for the right engine power lever.
Preventive Measures
Following the incident, SprintAir implemented several preventive actions: (1) Flight crew were briefed on the event and its circumstances. (2) A campaign was initiated to clean and dry the Condition Lever and Power Lever control cables on all fleet aircraft at the next convenient hangar maintenance opportunity. (3) To reduce recurrence risk, the drying interval for cables on SAAB-340 aircraft was reduced from 8 years to 2 years, to be performed concurrently with tasks 761108 and 761207 (Control Cable Tension Check). (4) The aircraft manufacturer was requested to amend the Abnormal Checklist in the QRH to include this scenario, as it was not covered by existing published procedures.