Originally Posted by
allthecoolnamesarego
Steve, couldn’t the Gingerbeers have a look during turnarounds? If it only takes a few minutes, I’d be more than happy for them to check my aircraft. If they find a crack, we get off.
Mate I know that all Pilots respect the LAMEs and vice versa. We trust each other implicitly. The problem is, our judgements and decisions are being taken from us by non technical managers who claim to know more about aircraft than we do. Qantas is not the same as it once was. LAMEs now get in trouble if they find defects on planes. I put these things out there because our industry is being destroyed by people who can't look past their own OTP based KPIs and both our groups are suffering from understaffing and other constraints that put too much stress on the safety system. I am not talking out of school and have three clear examples to prove the charge I have outlined here. I also will give an example of something that is incomprehensible to us old school LAMEs that was put upon a member of ours. This is what the Qantas Group has become -
The other day an A380 diverted to Avalon. There was a repeated inspection on an MEL that required LAME certification every transit. The Melbourne LAMEs were called and asked if a LAME in Melbourne could certify for the inspection without going there. That is, sign it from 70km away. Welcome to our world.
As for looking at things like these cracks whilst we are in the vicinity, here are some examples of what happens.
1. Some years back, Sunstate LAMEs noted that the cockpit door locks (that keep you safe from knife wielding terrorists) could be opened with a paddle pop stick. The LAMEs snagged the defects. 7 LAMEs were stood down for 5 months because they reported an issue they weren't asked to look for. They had a work card that said to do a cabin inspection. According to Sunstate, you could only notice the lock issue if you had a card calling for a detailed cabin inspection. They all received first and final warnings for misconduct.
2. A transit check certified by a LAME used to be undertaken before every Qantas flight. They decided to drop the checks and make them daily (they are now every other day). The ALAEA issued a notice for members to continue doing the checks. We were taken to the FWC for unprotected action and the orders were issued.
3. The other example is current. A Qantaslink LAME currently stood down because he lodged a report stating that management told him he was not allowed to report 717 corrosion.
This is why we cannot check the other 42 aircraft without a specific card asking us to do so. Welcome to Qantas guys....oh I almost forgot.....safety is our number one priority.