Busy day.......sound familar?

[Alan Key]

I caught the 9am flight to Paris on Saturday, arrived at work at midday for an A
check on a Saab 2000. When I got there the A check was going ok so I was asked to
work the line, no probs.
All the other S2000 coverage had gone home when we got a call saying the other Saab was AOG in Cologne, R ENG MAINT + beta inop, prop control fault and WX radar u/s.

The time was now 8pm, could I fly to dusseldorf and hire a car (with my own credit
card !!) and drive to cologne. Luckily I wouldn't have made the flight so I didn't
have to refuse.
The company decided to lay on a 146 to cologne to pick up the passengers, so could I go on that. Well, ok then, so I took a wx ant, OSG, PCU and all the **** .
The 146 arrived at Paris with ENG 2 loop fault, a/c aog.
So first I had to fix the 146 and then fly with it to cologne.
I arrived in Cologne at 11.45 pm to start work on the Saab, luckily the eng maint
was simply the plug connecter on the top of the OSG had vibrated loose.
I ran the engine, no probs, but then the RH gen tripped off, I tried to reset but couldn't run the engine any more due to a
curfew at the airport. No sweat I thought, I'll get up and come in and try it with the crew,if it fails MEL it and be there to do the extra pbit's required.
So then I changed the WX radar and went to the hotel at 3.30am.
Up at 5.30, expecting to be able to sleep on the flight and more when I get back
to Paris. I spoke to the pilot over breakfast and he told me that he wouldn't accept the a/c with the gen inop.
So we went in, pax on ran it, tried to reset, couldn't, big discussion, pax off,crew back to the hotel.
I swapped gcu's over, and ordered a gen aog.
Nobody had a generator.
The pilot got a rocket from ops and agreed to Ferry the a/c when the weather got
better.
We took off at 10 am, me having to do the pbit's for him and then I settled down
for breakfast on the flight.
The pilot then called me to the cockpit, APU COWL OPEN caution, intermittant on.
We talked about it and then he decided to follow the checklist and shut the APU down.

We now only had one generator available and he declared an emergency.
We made it back to Paris with Fire engines and all the services following us into
the stand.
I got to bed at 3 pm and was called in 6pm, we had a generator, could I just change
that and then I could go home.
So I did.
Does this happen everywhere, or am I just one of the lucky ones !!!!

[Manual Start]

Sounds like these days are becoming more standard. Did your company thank you for all your effort and personal sacrifices? You do it once and forever more they "expect" it. Aircraft Maintenance Professionals are Human Beings just as much as the flight crew. The pilot refused to accept the A/C with the gen inop. Thats his call. What would the company say if you refused to continue working due to fatigue? You must look after your own health first because it sure sounds like the company will not!
Been down that road too many times and its not worth it.

[Pengineer]

I saw that film! but I thought George Kennedy (aka Joe Petroni) was actually waiting on the fire engine when the aircraft landed not sitting in club knocking back the croissants and sipping champagne.
You'll need a few days off now Joe because in the next film you have to fly concorde while somebody tries to shoot you down with a missile.
"truly this man is the son of God"
(or was that John Wayne?)
http://www.stopstart.fsnet.co.uk/Gif/homfloat.gif

PS I did a weekly on tuesday. 8^)

[spannersatcx]

Has your company never heard of Human Factors, it is now part of the JAA syllabus (in the UK at least). We are limited by the co exposition to a max of 16hrs at work, and that only in an AOG situation, then you MUST have minimum rest of 8hrs. I guess the more people do it the more it will be expected so you make a rod for your own back.
I guess I wouldn't last long there as I would certainly not of done it, I also might of got a little upset with the Captain as well. Then that's me! :eek:

[Blacksheep]

That's nothing! Now when I were on.....

Leave him alone. Any one of us would do that for a 100,000 a year; admit it! :D

**********************************
Through difficulties to the cinema

[imagedude]

Didn`t a clever wordy type once say something along the lines of "only a slave can not walk away from his work" Next time your employer takes the piss show them your arse. :eek:

[Orly one mike]

I think you do not work for a french airline, we also have rules about working duty and these hours would not be permitted.

[ragspanner]

Same ,same mate . As the saying goes 'same s#it different day!.
If the weasels at the CAA would come out with statutory work & rest periods our cred would rise,unfortunately the UK regulatory authorities regard engineers in the same way as the majority of the industry-ie flunkeys !,they pay lip service to HF but thats as far as it goes !.

[Pengineer]

What did your colleagues think of what you did? I've worked a few places and theres always a bloke like you there, who does all the call ins, all the Jollies, gets shafted when he claims his expenses but then is first to volunteer when the next one turns up.

[Alan Key]

My mail was intended to open a dialogue on the subject and I except that to a point this sort of thing does make a rod for my own back. I also agree that it is irresponsible to work those hours and potentially dangerous.
The trouble with what happened was a perfect case of "can you just.....". On agreeing to go fix the aircraft I expected to finish at about 2am which would have meant a 14 hour shift. However as the positioning aircraft was delayed this pushed it back. Then I thought in the morning all that was needed was a pen job, as the MEL allowed us to go.Wrong again, etc.etc.
Also in the equation is the fact that I was contracting. Which changes the threshold at which you say no, both due to the money you're being payed and the vunrebility of the position.

[Genghis the Engineer]

I think it is a valid concern, and these sort of working days the "system" tries to impose upon many people. I've certainly had a fair share of 18 hour days.

Thankfully I'm now in the happy position of having enough clout to tell the "system" to get stuffed and, quite frankly, don't trust myself not to make mistakes if I'm working longer than a 12 hour day routinely - and that's bad enough.

The line I take has always been "Sorry, I've been on the job too long, I'm worried I might make a safety related mistake and need a break here". It's a line that, used appropriately is very hard to argue with - just like the Cap'n who wouldn't accept an aircraft with a u/s generator. I sent a whole section home for a day once doing a job for Saab, on the ground that they'd been all working 15-18 hour days for 6 days and needed the 7th off. Believe it or not, I got complaints about the loss of overtime from my own staff, but Saab were understanding and didn't kick up a fuss.

G

[rover2701]

Lets all be honest. We have all at some time been the victim of companies that think engineers dont require sleep food or sustainance of any kind. I remember way back in the 70's working for Dan-Air at Manchester regularly working 24 hours to get an aircraft out at the end of the check. All these airlines depend on our good will. I decided unilateraly not to do, and said so. What happened? They just got some one else to do it. The answer once again is in the hands of all of us. Working time directive contains legislation, unless agreed otherwise, that restricts the number of working hours. The answer is in our own hands. :confused: null

[trapper]

Loads of us have been there and done that with respect to excessive working hours but with experience comes common sense. ie I'm knackered now get lost I need a break! Not many will argue. Last away job I did was up 20hours (working 15), told base that I would be back in about 6 hours but noted a tone of sarcasim or similar in their voice. So, said I understand where you're coming from, 6 hours would be pushing it a bit, see you in8 hours. No response, got my rest, got job done, had beer in town after!