Canadian civil transport manufacturer Bombardier has suspended testing on its long-awaited CSeries jet after “an engine-related incident” at its testing facility at Montreal’s Mirabel Airport.
“Safety is the priority, and the CSeries aircraft flight test program will resume once the investigation is completed,” Bombardier said in a statement.
The company didn’t provide any further details on the incident, but highlighted in their press release that Pratt & Whitney made the engines for the jet.
The Wall Street Journal cited two witnesses as saying there were no injuries during the incident, “and the extent of the damage to the engine and the aircraft wasn’t immediately clear.”
The incident marks the latest setback for Bombardier’s efforts to compete with manufacturers like Boeing and Airbus. The CSeries is a long-range jet with seating for 100 to 150 passengers.
The company delayed testing of the jet last year. And earlier this month its shares fell when Republic Airways, which has an order for 40 CSeries jets, mused aloud about cancelling the order.
The company is hoping to have 300 orders for the jet as of the end of this year, but it had only 182 as of the end of last year.
