Bombardier Inc. said yesterday it is bringing a damaged Q400 turboprop engine back from Japan to Montreal for full inspection by the maker, Pratt & Whitney Canada, at its main plant in Longueuil.

Its own engineers will participate and the work will be done in co-operation with representatives of two Japanese airlines, Transport Canada and the Japanese Transport Ministry.

Last week, a Japan Airlines 74-seater Q400, built at Bombardier's Downsview plant in Toronto, was taking off from Itami airport near Osaka when the crew noticed an unusual noise from one of the two turboprop engines. The flight was aborted - no one was hurt. The problem was a damaged turbine blade, a key part, and bird ingestion might have been the cause.

Yesterday, the Japanese Transport Ministry ordered Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways to check the engines of all 25 Q400s they fly in regional short-hop service all over Japan to make sure no other engines were damaged. The aircraft involved in the Aug. 12 incident was grounded, but the engine inspections on the other 24 are being done during light maintenance.

"It was not a general grounding order," said Bombardier spokesman Marc Duchesne. "All the 24 aircraft remain in operation. We won't know what caused the damage to that engine until the full inspection is done at Pratt & Whitney Canada."

The Q400 is flown widely in North America, Europe and elsewhere. Sales have surged in the past two years because of its fuel efficiency, range and near-jet speed. Transport Canada will decide whether the engines of all the Q400s flying in Canada will have to undergo inspection.

The Japanese Q400 fleet was grounded temporarily in the spring of 2007 after several nose landing-gear failures and emergency landings. The problems were fixed, but main landing-gear problems followed in Europe in September 2007, when 60 Q400s were grounded temporarily. Faulty maintenance was blamed for several crash landings along with inadequate flight manuals.

The Q400s flown by Porter Airlines in Canada are equipped with new-model Goodrich landing gear.

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