Oops - I seem to have touched a few raw nerves here don't I. Sorry if I've upset anybody but I only speak as I find. I too have some good friends within SkyService maintenance.
Well.. I have had the dubious pleasure of maintaining A320's(including the one involved in the incident) for.... wait for it.... SSV! . Where on a number of occasions pressure had been applied by SkyService to have defects signed off. I'm glad to say that even the SSV engineers refused to sign for some of them. Our orders were that we were not to defer items in the tech log but instead to record them on worksheets and keep them on file until either spares arrived or the aircraft went to the hangar for a check (usually the latter). This gave the appearance to MY Travel that the SSV aircraft were operating without any deferals when in fact each aircraft had tens of defects. We were also told that when any defect was intially reported, we should write it off as having passed a BITE test or whatever and then that would give SSV an extra day for the MEL limit because (and this is in the words of the SSV UK maintenace managers) "We are here to make money - right". Obviously that instruction was ignored much to the annoyance of some at SSV.
As for the standard of their own day to day servicing... well I've seen what I've seen and that's about as much as I can say.
TrimTank 2
It seems that in this case MYT and A2K are looking at the financial side rather than the safety aspect. I seem to remember a couple of years ago, when SSV were operating on behalf of AIH on the Hajj, AIH had to send their own A330 out to Indonesia because SSV had had their ETOPS approval removed because of maintenance errors!
Time2spare
Why did the tyres burst? - there are two braking systems with antiskid and one without but by using regulated braking to 1000 psi you should be able to avoid a locked wheel condition anyway. The crew would have been aware of a BSCU channel fault and taken the necessary measures as per ECAM and abnormal checklists.
Jetstream7
What makes you think that? Well I guess it's not beyond the realms of possibility that I could be both is it?
Oscardelta
You have hit the nail on the head - an accident waiting to happen.
Anyway - apologies once more for any home truths that may have hurt. I don't mean to offend where it's not warranted.
HST
