A senior Bombardier official apologized to Japanese aviation officials Friday after one of the Canadian aircraft manufacturer's propjets made an emergency landing at a regional airport earlier this week when the nose gear failed to deploy.

Speaking to reporters in Tokyo, Bombardier Vice President Todd Young said it was too soon to comment on whether the fault for the gear's failure -- the result of a missing bolt -- could be traced to the factory or was due to poor maintenance by All Nippon Airways.

Young added that Bombardier would cooperate fully with the transport ministry's Aircraft and Railway Accidents Investigation Commission and ANA, whose Air Central subsidiary operated the DHC-8Q400.