As a big fan or RE and EI regional (fly about 150 trips per year with them). I have over the past month or so I have been unfortunate to be having more trips on EI-REH and EI-REI (probably due to the demise of SLM). Not only do these aircraft give me an awful bad head from the engine 'drone' but they are falling apart.
EI-REH - My last flight was on this bird was on 28th July. After take off and take off power was decreased slightly there were some very strange sounds coming from engine 1. Hard to describe the sound but it was like high pitched whine like strangling a cat -it wasn't healthy. There were small vibrations that could be felt. As I was sat directly beside the engine it appeared quite obvious to me, not sure if others further away could hear/feel it. This subsided once we were in the cruise. Due to a blustery approach a fairly high level of power was used and again this sound/vibration started again once the engines revved up to a similar power setting. Was it engine 1 that was damaged at MAN on this aircraft?
EI-REI - Last trip on 11th August. Whilst waiting for the aircraft engineer to resolve a fault I noticed that there was visible damage to the flap fairings beside engine 1. The fairing was mis shaped and did not come together at the back - about a 2 inch gap. What perhaps was more worrying was that the aircraft had got wet on its previous sector and there were dried streams of rust all the way around the fairing particularly around the bolts and at the top where the fairing meets the wing. I presume the main job of the fairing is to help the aero dynamics but is it not also to protect the flap workings from the elements?
Now, before people start to slate me for mentioning these things let me state that as a passenger that I start to think what else could be wrong with the aircraft when you see blatantly obvious things like piles of rust. Having spent some time in the RAF, I have flown on some right s*** heaps such as the VC-10 air to air refuellers and the Nimrod MR2's but they all look in better condition than the older RE aircraft. I'll admit that my only flying experience is about 30 hours doing aerobatics in a grob tutor! I love aircraft, understanding them, how they work, how they go wrong, whatever really. Perhaps if I didn't read so much I would be less critical of the aircraft.
Am I really over reacting about it all? When I got off REI last time, I vowed that I would write to EI and RE letting them know of my worry with these two aircraft. I didnt. The 212's aren't brilliant either but I am more comfortable on them. I am at the point where I feel that when at check in I should ask which aircraft is scheduled and make a decision then as to if I am going to board it or not. I would hate to be at that point of boarding the aircraft and then having to tell the flight crew that I am refusing to fly because something looks a bit dodgy.
As some people have said previously in this forum, I think there are some issues with Aer Arann that could increase the chances of a fatal incident - albeit still low! How many times have I witnessed engineers running between two planes parked on the remote stands at DUB swapping parts between the fleet? I even remember boarding a 72-500 at BLK that had arrived with a mountain of duck tape over the front cargo door handle!
I am not having a go at the Engineers or flight crew, they do a brilliant job with what they are allowed to work with!