A prototype Mitsubishi Regional Jet, Japan’s first homegrown airliner in more than 50 years, was forced to abort two flights to the U.S. over the weekend.
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The plane took off again yesterday, but problems “in the same air conditioning monitoring system” caused it to return, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd and its subsidiary, Mitsubishi Aircraft Corp, said in a joint statement.
It’s the latest setback for the aircraft, the Mitsubishi Regional Jet (MRJ), which has already suffered repeated delays.
The last passenger aircraft produced in Japan was the YS-11, a turboprop made by Nihon Aircraft Manufacturing, a consortium that included Mitsubishi Heavy, Kawasaki Heavy Industries and Fuji Heavy Industries.
“We are in the process of finding out the details of the issue we faced during the last two days”, Mitsubishi said Monday.
The Mitsubishi Regional Jet (MRJ), which can seat as many as 92 people, is the first of four that the firm plans to fly to US for testing as the company works toward getting certification in the world’s largest economy.
At its flight test center at Moses Lake in Washington, Mitsubishi Aircraft plans to conduct test flights with four MRJ jets for about 2,500 hours in order to obtain type certification, which is equivalent to sales permission.
However, the first delivery to ANA Holdings Inc. has been pushed back by around a year until mid-2018.
Japan’s MRJ will compete with other regional passenger jet manufacturers such as Brazil’s Embraer and Canada’s Bombardier.
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According to the Mitsubishi, the MRJ’s new Pratt & Whitney engines and advanced aerodynamics return 20% better fuel economy than regional jet now on the market. Industry giants Boeing and Airbus have both endured embarrassing setbacks on high-profile jets including the 787 Dreamliner and the A380.
