Police have located the propeller that detached from the right-hand engine of a Regional Express Saab 340 that was enroute to Sydney on 17 March.

The New South Wales Police says that one of its Air Wing helicopters spotted the propeller in bushland near Revesby, south-west of Sydney.

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It is now working with the Australian Transport Safety Bureau to recover the propeller, which is expected to undergo extensive engineering analysis as part of the investigation of the engine failure.

The right-hand propeller assembly sheared off from the aircraft’s engine shortly after it was feathered following an in-flight shut down of the General Electric CT7 engine during a flight from Albury to Sydney. It was around 10nm from Sydney when the incident happened.

The crew made a ‘pan’ call and landed safely. There were three crew members and 16 passengers on board the aircraft, which is registered VH-NRX.

Rex has since replaced propeller gear boxes and shafts from the same series on five other Saab 340Bs in its fleet.

Flight Fleets Analyzer shows that Rex operates 51 Saab 340Bs.