Incident at Thunder Bay, Ontario

1996-02-27: Time Air flight 1323, a DeHavilland DHC-8-301, was starting its take-off roll at Thunder Bay, Ontario, for a scheduled passenger flight to Winnipeg, Manitoba. As the crew was setting take-off power, and the aircraft was accelerating through about 50 knots, amber caution lights for both inverters, left 26V AC power, FDR, GPWS, #1 stall warning, and the stick pusher illuminated. The crew rejected the take-off, and taxied back to the ramp to investigate. After the pilots shut down the aircraft at the ramp, they noticed that the circuit breakers for the primary inverter, auxiliary inverter, and 115V bus tie had tripped. Company maintenance personnel found a Dzus fastener in a 400 MHz control box located behind the captain's seat in the cockpit. The fastener was removed, the circuit breakers were reset, and the aircraft returned to service without further incident. Company quality assurance personnel have investigated the source of the fastener found in the control box, and believe that it may have come in through an opening in the box cover. The company will submit an SDR, proposing a design change to the box to keep foreign objects out.