Fully agree that Dups are essential. They ensure safety & protect the engineer.
The biggest problem at present seems to be that they are being used to protect maintenance organisations & save them having to get sufficient staff to allow good working practices.
FLS have more dups than you can wave a stick at.
Slides - why someone incorrectly installed slides.
Cowlings - Why someone allowd an aircraft to take off with cowls unlatched.
What next? Bev makers because one bcame loose?
Should the maintenance companies not be looking at the causes ie lack of staff, pressure, nightshift, weather etc rather than just raising another Dup Insp?
I beleive that the cowling incident was the evening after FLS layed off a load of engineers - That was sure to help the engineers concentrate n the job in hand.
The BCAR requirement was for things that affecte PRIMARY flight & engine controls. Not every component that can be misinstalled due lack of staff or pressure to get aircraft away.
Dups will stay in company requirements regardless of what the JAA say but there will still be the problem that if everything needs a duplicate inspection, it will dilute the importance of the inspection.
With more & more ETOPS aircraft & too many Dups, people will become complacent until there is an incident due oil loss half way accross the atlantic.