Now, as you know, I don't post up very much any more on the subject of 558, as to be totally honest I've had a gutful of it all. Having had a little more 'behind the scenes' experience than others, and having personally experienced the full effects of the appalingly bad 'management' on many seperate occasions, My patience has been tested to the point where I no longer have any interest in being associated with the whole debacle, however....
Having just heard and read about all of this, and especially the quite frankly ridiculous press release posted above, complete with TVOC's attempts to shrug it off as a "one off" occasion despite "best intentions" I feel that I'd quite like to vent my spleen a little and throw in my 2p worth!
There is only really one place where the buck stops here, and that is firmly at the door of the self appointed "Engineering Director" or "Engineering Manager" or whichever grandiose title he has decided to award himself this month. Unfortunately, with such a position, comes certain responsibilities and one of those is the ultimate responsibility for all engineering matters. Whether or not he chooses to delegate the matters elsewhere to people who are more suited or capable is immaterial. Ultimately, he is the end of the road and should take ultimate responsibility. The fact of the matter in this case is that the Structural Sampling tests, which have been known about for over 2 years now, have not been completed, despite the fact that the CAA have mandated that these are essential conditions of the permit being renewed, and as the Engineering Manager, ultimately, he is responsible for ensuring that the Sampling was completed in time for the renewal. Simple as that really.
The checks being discussed originally formed part of the original RAF Major servicing, which was being carried out alongside all of the Enhanced inspections and modifications XH558 recieved during her restoration. Originally, as the name suggests, the sampling checks were carried out across a percentage of the fleet, to give a broad idea of the condition of the fleet, and were not carried out on every aircraft undergoing a major. Due to this fact, and because of the depth of some of the sampling checks, which included such inaccessible items as the Fin attachment bolts for example, it was agreed during discussion with the CAA etc that the checks could be carried out on XM603 as technically she was part of the fleet, and any damage, dissasembly required would not incur the headaches it would with 558. All well and good, and required much good will from the CAA really. The conditions imposed by the CAA for this however, was that the work would be carried out prior to the next Permit application. A little like an ADF in principle. This gave TVOC a window of over a year to do this work and present the results. This work was then left incomplete and therefore, quite rightly the CAA have refused the application. What is particularly outrageous about all of this is that this has clearly been known about for a VERY long time, and has taken place through a year where for a large chunk, there has been very little for the engineers to do, and despite the protestations that will inevitably follow, that is an inescapable fact. Obviously, these are only my own opinions, but to allow this to reach the stage where we now have a grounded aircraft and a refused Permit, smacks of either incredibly incompetant engineering management, or blatent arrogance and disregard of aviation legislation and rules that are in place for everyones safety. On a more sinister note, it begs the question as to whether the application for renewal was put in by TVOC quietly, with the hope that it would simply be renewed. Either way, the buck must stop somewhere, and how many times can events like this be tolerated and simply glossed over with a little "It's a one off" spin?
Sorry if you disagree with any or all of my post, but I am sat here fuming and utterly utterly disgusted on all levels, and to be totally frank, embarassed to have been associated with TVOC in any way at all.
Rant over...
Flipflopman