"The mechanic inspecting the plane, Donald Gene Buchanan, 64, was killed. The Federal Aviation Administration's team that granted amnesty to the pilots was composed of people with ties to Continental Airlines."
RIP.
These dangers, and the ones YOU DON'T EXPECT, are something that you can NEVER become complacent with.
My own "near miss" happened some 20+ years ago during ground runs on a laarbruch based GR1 Tornado.
During the post servicing runs, as called up in the schedule, we were carrying out AC/DC checks.
With both gearboxes being driven by their respective ECU's and stabilized the test went according to plan.
However the operator decided "to move things along" and decided to do a MECU lanes test whilst the AC/DC checks were in progress to save some time later on.
Unfortunately the RH MECU lane that was selected was at fault and allowed the RH ECU to run away. Full bore.
At the time I was checking the GSP (ground service panel) under the right intake.
The memory of my (issue) cold weather jacket being sucked onto the face of the intake guard has remained with me ever since. It was left behind. The ecu was saved by the operators self preservation instinct of putting the switch back to the original (starting) position.
Bottom line I'm afraid is NEVER, NEVER trust an operator unless he knows EXACTLY what you want and understands that to deviate in these circumstances can have extreme consequences for all concerned never mind the physical violence that may descend upon them!!
(And no it wasn't me it was my old [mad dog] chiefy who did the sorting out behind the hangar!!!
rgds
Glad Rag.
I stand (partially) corrected and apologise for that.
From the transcripts the operator was cleared to and agreed the rampup. The correctness of this is to my mind "still open" however.
