Originally Posted by
Capn Bloggs
I suggest you and pilotmike do some research on the wasp problem at Brisbane before ripping into Maggot's company policy. Why don't you ask him/her how many times his company has taken off with the covers still on?
Even more significant, how many unreliable airspeed events would occur with the covers
OFF and a blocked pitot in BNE? At least 3 in a one or two week period that I am aware of prior to the policy being implemented. The FMC picked at least one up on the taxi (clever Boeing), and the other two were air returns.
If the covers are not fitted immediately after shutdown and removed just prior to push (where the engineer physically shows you in the flight deck prior to signing off the tech log) you have a high probability of an unreliable airspeed event, even with a < 45 minute turn. There seems to be some anecdotal evidence that the warmth attracts theses wasps. There are test rigs of unheated pitot probes placed around the bays. From what I can see not much activity in the test units, but i've seen wasps go straight towards the aircraft pitot within a few minutes of shutdown.