Mitch Cronin Posted March 12, 2005 Share Posted March 12, 2005 Not mentioning the who, the airline, the A/C type, or the engine type, so as not to cross any lines.... The other day, at the end of a long night of hard work getting an aircraft ready for the morning's chaos on what was to have been one of the busiest days of the year for the remaining Canadian carriers, a crew of experienced guys dropped the ball and a bunch of folks were left waiting for an airplane they could have had but didn't... A lack of familiarity with this specific engine type was at the root of the problem... Most of the guys on that crew were well familiar with another engine type, upon which, if fuel showed up on the outside of the case at any time, it would mean a leak existed that was unacceptable... This particular engine type, being a derivative of an older design, still incorporated an antiquated system for draining the combustion cans of fuel after shut down, which would have previously dumped the fuel on the ground, and is now essentially just capped off.... which means occasionally fuel will seep out of one of the flanges just aft of the combustion liner... for a while after shut down. So upon discovering this after the mornings leak checks, this particular set of folks decided the bird was unfit... unfortunately, that was a mere two hours or so before scheduled departure time.... Many long faces and angry managers argued about what exactly should have been done, and when... Then, some time too late to make a decent recovery, someone in the know printed out a paragraph from the maintenance manual on this particular engine that stated in plain English that such fuel seepage (up to a quarter cup) was indeed acceptable! None of those who'd been near this engine all night had even thought to look for a limit for such a thing! It would be, in their experience, unheard of to accept the idea of fuel leaking out of the thing, especially so close to the hot section... Familiar but not, experienced but not specifically, certain but not... I guess that's a form of complacency.... A thought that strikes me now: What if the same thing had happened in reverse?... Guys familiar with this engine type, not familiar with another, observing a similar situation on that type and thinking it normal, when it would not be.... If they were to be as complacent, such a thing could be problematic. I much prefer being the windshield. Find a genuine problem, fix it, send the beast on it's way, and go home with a feeling of satisfaction. ...but then Mick's words come to mind... "you can't always get what you want" So why am I telling this story?.... I dunno? It came to mind is all... and with all this talk about Jetsgo, maybe we could do with some reminders that any of us can drop the ball if we're not careful? Cheers folks, Mitch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sky High Posted March 12, 2005 Share Posted March 12, 2005 Better safe than sorry, although I agree with you that someone should have looked up the limits where they would have round that there was nothing wrong. I guess in their minds they were going to play it safe no matter what. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dagger Posted March 12, 2005 Share Posted March 12, 2005 It's also an object lesson in why AC is looking to its widebody order to sweep away these old variants and the various anomalies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dr1 Posted March 12, 2005 Share Posted March 12, 2005 The fact you're even thinking about it is another indication of your experience and dedication to your craft Mitch. You can work on my machine any time. Cheers DR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitch Cronin Posted March 12, 2005 Author Share Posted March 12, 2005 Thanks Dave. I'd be honored to have the chance. (I'm on the wagon for a while ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
planett Posted March 13, 2005 Share Posted March 13, 2005 It is unfortunate about these misunderstandings. In the past I have snagged a few airplanes and hours later after someone figures out that it's supposed to act this way my name has been smeared as the lazy pilot who should have known this off the top of his head and "Why do they pay him so much anyway?" I must admit, it has made me gun shy about snagging anything that's not black and white. Mitch's post about this situation and how it could have turned out differently makes me feel less guilty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitch Cronin Posted March 13, 2005 Author Share Posted March 13, 2005 Hi Planett... I wouldn't worry about snagging things that aren't snags... If you think something's wrong and it turns out it isn't, no harm done... On the other hand, if it is wrong, and you don't snag it, there is potential for harm. If it takes someone some work to prove it, that probably only means he thought it might be wrong too. So whatever potential for embarrasment there is you share with him. ...and he learned something while digging into it. Besides, it keeps people honest. Some folks might give you the "oh ya, that's normal" line for legitimate snags, but if they're written down, now they have to be right. A great lesson on how that can go is this classic bit from a log book: DEFECT #12345: Oil seeping from #4 spinner RECTIFICATION: Oil seepage considered normal DEFECT #12346: Engines 1, 2 and 3 lack normal oil seepage from spinners. Cheers, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
planett Posted March 13, 2005 Share Posted March 13, 2005 That's a classic, thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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