Originally Posted by
A Squared
As cynical as I am, I am reluctant to believe that a tug operator in Brisbane would notice the pitot covers and choose not to say anything. People can fail to notice some pretty astonishing things. The "Gorilla in the Basketball game" video, for instance. I'm inclined to believe that the tug operator didn't notice them, despite them being right in front of his face. Perhaps I'm just being naive.
From the Preliminary Report:
The pitot probe covers were fitted on the aircraft’s three pitot probes by one of the engineering support personnel, as it was his understanding this was normal practice. He later reported that he advised the operator’s maintenance engineer that pitot probe covers were fitted during a brief exchange discussing turnaround tasks, but that the maintenance engineer did not directly respond. The maintenance engineer later reported that he did not recall hearing the advice, and he did not make an entry in the aircraft’s technical log to record that the covers had been fitted.
The presence of the pitot covers was not detected by the operator’s maintenance engineer or captain during separate external aircraft inspections. The operator’s maintenance engineer boarded the aircraft during turnaround, and the engineering support personnel left the bay to attend to other aircraft. The pitot covers were not detected by ground handlers during pushback.