Another aircraft was used to continue the flight.
An engine failure last week forced an Air Tahiti ATR-72-600 turboprop aircraft flying from Nuku Hiva, French Polynesia, to Faa'a to divert to Fakarava. There were no reported injuries when the plane safely touched down.
At its cruise altitude, the incident occurred while the aircraft was in the air. Because Fakarava was more than 100 miles away, the pilots took a lower altitude after learning of the breakdown, but they did not land for more than 30 minutes.
Specifics of the incident
The Aviation Herald reports that on Wednesday, October 25, the ATR-72, registered as F-ORVV, flew as VT832 from Nuku Hiva Airport (NHV) to Faa'a International Airport (PPT), which is close to Papeete.
The flight left on schedule at approximately 15:00 local time, according to flight data from FlightAware. The plane apparently ascended to 16,000 feet, which is its typical cruising altitude for the roughly three-hour flight to Faa'a.
The right engine had failed, according to The Aviation Herald, when F-ORVV was located roughly 110 nautical miles north of Fakarava. The accident forced the crew to reroute the plane to Fakarava Airport (FAV) at a height of about 7,000 feet. According to data from Flighradar24.com, the turboprop started descending from 7,000 feet at 17:48 local time and was heading south towards Fakarava Atoll.
At about 1,100 feet, the aircraft headed west to align with Runway 05 at FAV. The Aviation Herald reports that F-ORVV made its landing at roughly 17:56, roughly 40 minutes after the crew was informed of the engine failure.
A six-hour delay
A replacement aircraft was apparently provided by Air Tahiti to complete the flight to PPT, with 55 people on board. Approximately six hours after VT832 was supposed to land in Faa'a, F-ORVU, another ATR-72, was flown in from PPT to FAV and returned with the passengers to PPT.
F-ORVV is still on the ground at FAV, presumably for maintenance, according to flight data. According to Ch-aviation, the turboprop is about seven years old.
It completed its first flight in November 2016 after being ordered by Air Tahiti in January 2013.
The plane arrived at the airline one month later. Pratt & Whitney PW127M engines power the aircraft, which can carry up to 70 passengers in total. It has logged over 8,500 flight cycles and over 6,600 flying hours as of June 2020.
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