Myanmar's airline said that they would stop flying its MA60 planes after another accident with the model in less than one month, reported The Associated Press.
One plane swerved off the runway on Monday when it was landing in Kawthaung in southeastern Myanmar, damaging propllers. Adminstration manager of Myanma Airways, Hla Htay Aung said that the airline would ground its Xian MA60s which are made in China for now.
The three planes were purchased n 2010 and will be inspected and then would be up to the government's aviation authorities upon when they would be allowed to fly again.
The airline has seven other aircrafts in its fleet which are three twin-engine turboprops that are made by ATR which is a French-Italian aircraft manufacturer as well as two twin engine turboprops from a U.S. maker and two Brazilian Embraer passenger jets.
"Another Myanma Airways MA60 shot past the end of the runway on May 16 at Monghsat in northern Shan state when its brakes reportedly failed. A wing and a wheel were damaged, and two passengers suffered broken arms.
A MA60 operated by Indonesian state-run Merpati Nusantara Airlines landed hard Monday in Indonesia's East Nusa Tenggara provincial capital of Kupang, injuring several people on board," reported The AP.
The Jakarta Post reported about MA60 planes, "The procurement of the Chinese planes was controversial, putting the debt-ridden airline under public scrutiny. The Attorney General's Office launched an investigation into alleged corruption surrounding the MA60 procurement after it had found preliminary indications that the purchase might have violated legal procedures."
Tin Naing Tun, director general of the Civil Aviation Department, told AFP, "I think the accidents happened because of system failure. We will check all the systems. That's why we stopped the operation of the planes. The systems also showed warnings before."
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