Considering the recent UK F-35 that went into the ocean from a carrier launch after ingesting an engine intake blank, those of you who say this should never happen appear to missing the human factors element in all of this. That airplane was surrounded by aviation professionals whose job it was to ensure the aircraft is ready for flight, and it still got missed. There have been a spate of pitot static failures on airliners that were placed in COVID storage and returned to service, only to find the blanks were not fitted properly, or the insects got in anyway. That should be all the evidence needed to demonstrate that the discipline and governance around fitting blanks and covers needs a rigorous review by the industry. If you needed steps or a ladder to fit the blanks, why not leave it there for the person to remove the blanks is one obvious question. Adding paperwork to what should be a standardized safety process is not going to help if it's not a maintenance action.