Aurigny Air Services, an all-turboprop regional airline based in Guernsey in the Channel Islands, confirmed one of its ATR 72-600s experienced what investigators have described as a “total electrical failure” while en route to Guernsey, prompting a safety investigation and the temporary removal of the aircraft from service.
The incident occurred on February 4, 2026, during a repositioning flight. The aircraft was not carrying passengers. According to information released by investigators, the electrical failure took place as the turboprop was descending toward the island.
Aurigny confirmed that the aircraft landed safely and said it immediately withdrew it from service pending further checks. The airline has not publicly detailed which electrical systems were affected or how long the loss of power lasted.
The ATR 72, like other regional turboprops, uses multiple layers of redundancy in its electrical architecture. Even so, investigators will want to understand exactly what failed, whether the loss involved primary generators, standby systems, or a cascading event that disabled more than one layer of backup.
Depending on the scope of the failure, the pilots likely saw the turboprop’s flight displays go black, flight management functions stop working, the autopilot become unresponsive, and the loss of other critical systems such as radios.
The ATR 72-600 is equipped with mechanical backup instruments to allow the crew to maintain control of the aircraft even in poor visibility.
France’s BEA has reportedly opened an inquiry on behalf of the UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch. Investigators will work to determine what happened, why it happened, and whether the event points to a broader technical or maintenance issue with the aircraft type.
Electrical events, while rare, tend to attract scrutiny because they can affect multiple systems at once. In most cases, investigations uncover a contained technical fault rather than a systemic problem, but that determination will take time.
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