By the way, I'm not attempting to defend the system, I'm just advising what the system is. I would love to have an engineer at every transit at every port.
I note however that every component on an aircraft has NEVER been checked on every transit EVER. There are many bits on an aircraft you just can't get to without pulling the whole thing apart. I remember we all got a bit scared when 738 fuel pumps started failing causing possible fuel tank fires. It was too impractical to check the fuel pumps all the time so Boeing issued an AD requiring a minimum fuel quantity in the tank at all times. Then they issued an AD requiring modifications to the fuel pump wiring. Then they started installing Nitrogen generators in new model aircraft.
It's the system as a whole that keeps the skies safe - from manufacturer to regulator to operator to engineer to pilot. What they've done now is cut a little bit of that chain out - pilots are not happy about it, engineers are not happy about it, the operator says if other operators are doing it they must too or they can't compete, the manufacturer allows it because it's a marketing edge for their product and the regulator allows it for some reason.
Steve is looking for any holes in the swiss cheese that we should all be concerned about - keep it up Steve.
Last edited by HF3000; 15th Nov 2012 at 01:44.