What happened
On July 17, 2018, at 18:59 UTC, a Bombardier DHC-8-402 was performing a scheduled departure from Warsaw Chopin Airport (EPWA) bound for Gdańsk (EPGD). During the takeoff roll, the flight crew observed that the engine number two RPM readings had stabilized at 57%, failing to accelerate as required. In response to this performance anomaly, the crew executed an aborted takeoff.
Following the decision to stop, the crew notified the operator's Maintenance Control Center (MCC) and relevant airport services. An Air Safety Report (ASR) was subsequently filed by the crew.
The investigation
The investigation focused on determining the mechanical reason behind the engine's failure to reach takeoff power. The technical analysis identified a specific component failure within the engine's fuel system.
Findings
- The primary cause of the engine malfunction was an internal failure of the Fuel Metering Unit (FMU) block.
Safety action
Following the incident, the operator's technical services replaced the faulty FMU block with a new unit. A subsequent high-power engine test was performed, which confirmed the engine was operating correctly. The event was recorded in the operator's Safety Management System (SMS) database and included in the company's Safety Performance Indicators (SPI).