Originally Posted by
msbbarratt
This info on steels, bearings, etc. is excellent.
But isn't it time for a reality check? It seems clear that the combined talent of the design authority, crash investigators, regulators and operator maintenance staff is unable to fully understand or control what is happening to these aircraft. Whatever it is that we know about materials, operating conditions, wear rates, etc, that knowledge is inadequate in this case.
I know that the aviation sector is generally run with great maturity and care by all those involved, and takes pride in knowing all aspects of aircraft behaviour and how to operate safely.
However for this type they imposed a regime of intensive examination after every flight, after a few other accidents occurred. To me that sounds like "we don't really, truly know what's happening, so we'll sample the gearbox condition at every opportunity and maybe find out". In retrospect that's probably going to look like a bad idea.
The most important part of the investigation will be its focus on how it came to this.
I think you are right
to me it's both a technical and a cultural problem,
combined with a control authority regime that is reactive.
In other countries outside Europe, there is much more focus
on precaution to fault modes. Not only on aircraft as well as in other businesses, simply because the culture/law systems allows to put the responsibility on the manufacturer alone.
For sure it creates an environment of political correctness that is not always
smooth and easy to work with, but if it avoids accidents itīs worth it.
It induces also serious research on government funded platform, that
has absolutely no comparison elsewhere.