Sometimes it helps to look over the machine when it comes out of maintenance....engineers are human too, right? The thought of the m/r not being secured as described indicts the engineer, the engineer that did the duplicate inspection, the Quality Assurance Program, the pilot.....everyone involved.
Now at a very cold place in the US....with a helicopter company that has a very short name...preflighted a 212 for the morning flight to discover a tail rotor pitch change link dangling lose on one end. Was a bit surprised, afterall it had been inspected, test flown and released for flying by the base manager and lead mechanic, following a tail rotor change. They couldn't understand my bellicose description of what I thought of them, their standards, and their veracity....the company wasn't impressed either until I suggested a federal agency with an equally short name might be interested.
It never hurts to double check what you can.....
