[Paul McFarlane]

Source:
http://bigpondnews.com/articles/TopS....html?ref=BPNT

Police and the air force are searching for a set of landing gear doors that fell off an RAAF plane during a maintenance check flight over Gippsland.

The PC9 aircraft was flying in a training area near the East Sale RAAF base when two landing gear doors fell off about 12km southwest of Heyfield about 9.16am (AEST) on Wednesday, a Defence Department spokeswoman said.

The area, about 200km east of Melbourne, is predominantly open farming country.

The pilot performed a visual inspection and found the doors missing when the plane's warning systems indicated a fault, the spokeswoman said.

The aircraft returned safely to East Sale but the spokesman said the doors had not yet been located.

The maintenance check flight was not related to the landing gear, the spokeswoman said.

The PC9 model is one used by the RAAF Roulettes precision flying team but the aircraft involved in the incident was not on a Roulettes flight.

The missing doors are made of lightweight carbon fibre. They are each about 60cm long and 30cm wide, and are red with some black markings.

The RAAF will conduct a thorough search for the doors.

'An initial ground search has been conducted based on best known coordinates, and an aerial search will be conducted early next week on return of the East Sale search and rescue helicopter,' the spokeswoman said.

'Due to the area involved and size of the components, you would appreciate that it would be very difficult to locate them by either air or ground search.'

Anyone who finds the doors should not touch them, but should instead report their position to the RAAF or police, the spokeswoman said.

'While the components do contain carbon fibres, there is no hazard posed if handled by trained personnel with appropriate safety measures in place,' she said.

'Correct handling will also ensure that no further damage occurs to the parts themselves, so that a thorough investigation can take place.'