Sometimes it's easier to go out and have a beer with some of the pilots!
Visited Darwin over the weekend and had a beer with a couple pilots, asked the same questions I'm sure everyone else has asked. I will highlight one of the NCN's I was told about below (and I'm sure I'll get a dirty SMS for this, but screw it, these things should be made public).
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One of the company 310's was in the back of a hangar, in the middle of a check 2 (end of MR 100 hourly). We all know what state an aircraft would have been in around the halfway point of a Check 2. It was at this point that a Cairns based FOI walked into the back of the hangar and 'ramped' the aircraft.
This FOI found 1 of 88 VG fins missing (the aircraft can legally/safely fly with all 88 fins missing for those that don't know, I didn't until Saturday night).
The FOI asked the engineers for the MR and found it wasn't endorsed on the MR. It was explained to the FOI that the fin would have been knocked off in the hangar when the inspection panels were removed, its a common thing, secondly it was explained that when an aircraft is in the hangar for a Check 2 the MR is withdrawn from use, it is now expired, the engineers would not have and could have not endorsed the expired MR.
Just to remind everyone, the aircraft was SITTING ON JACKS AT THE BACK OF A hangar, ALL INSPECTION PANELS AND COWLS REMOVED, WITH ENGINEERS AND TOOLS ALL OVER THE AIRCRAFT.
When the FOI returned to Cairns an NCN was raised for failing to endorse an MR. Even though the FOI knew the state of the aircraft and was familiar with the rules, the NCN was still raised.
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Since when can a CASA FOI ramp an aircraft thats in the middle of a Check 2 and then raise an NCN for something that was clearly explained at the time as not being an NC? This NCN now forms one of the pillars of the grounding, it is being used by CASA as an example of maintenance problems within the company.
Other NCN's seem to follow similar themes, it sounds like the regulator is not playing very fair. I got the impression that CASA is playing dirty plus they are dragging this out as long as possible in hope of shutting the business before they have to answer serious questions themselves.
I hope for the guys and girls who were working for Barrier that this is resolved quickly!