RJ70 engine changes had cost Air Malta $540,000

Edward Mallia

Nov 25th 2010, 14:06

So the matter of the RJ70s has come up in the open at long last.
I was on a flight to Rome sometime in 1996 or 1997. Midway there I noticed a long oil streak moving along one engine casing from near the front towards the rear. I drew the attention of the steward to this; he went to ask the Captain and came back with the answer that they were dumping extra fuel! Disbelief on my part was met with a shrug of the shoulders. When we landed at Fiumicino, an engine on the other side could be seen to have the same oily streak.
A quick search on the Net some weeks later revealed that the aircraft had a defective lubrication pack. Numerous failures had been reported. Good thing Airmalta did not have any serious incidents-- as might have happened had the RJ70 been used on international flights from the sister island.