Qantas Maintenance Issue

[Jet Jockey]

Well is was only 2 weeks ago Jokestar copped a pounding on this forum for suspect maintenance when an engine clamp was left on an engine pylon and missed by all concern and flew before being found and I said you fly long enough **** happens. Well the red rat had one become airbourne today and something fell from the undercarriage. An inspection of the runway revealled a tool bag. Well what have the knockers to say on that one!!!! Seems not a lot of difference between the red rat and jokestar really. :E

[Bolty McBolt]

Dam..Is that where my tool bag went :eek:

Tea and bickies for me I think

I wonder if I will be strung up by my thumbs, toes or gonads this time !!

[Fliegenmong]

And above which runway the aforementioned tool bag is alleged to have dropped?:cool:

[Sunfish]

Hope nothing was harmed apart from egos.

This is not the first time, nor will it be the last time that something has been "left behind" I know an instructor who has built herself a nice little toolbox out of the odd spanners and screwdrivers she has found where they shouldn't be.

On a more serious note. I believe I recall either an Australian B727 or DC9 that lost an engine on landing many years ago after a speed brake maintenance lock was left in the wing. On landing, the brake extended and the lock bounced out and found the engine.

[Duff Man]

Heard it had already made one taxi out to the holding point (34L) before returning for a quick fix then departure ... hmmmmm

[chemical alli]

duffman are you saying the red rat has been immune to these maintenance errors and that the engineers working for said airline hold themselves above everybody else?

i think you will find that a policy and procedure would have been followed to the letter regarding said incident and that is,exactly what it is an incident.

lets not stroke each others johnsons on who can swing a spanner best but learn from our mistakes.the last time i looked lame's in auz prided themselves on admitting a wrong and investigated any errors and proactively fixed the problems.

people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones ,comes to mind

[max autobrakes]

Was that Qantas longhaul, was that Qantas shorthaul ,was that Qantas Jetconnect, was that Qantas Qantas link, was that Qantas National Jet, etc, etc? Will the real Qantas please stand up. :}

[Duff Man]

Chemical, there wasn't meant to be any innuendo in my post above which was all hearsay anyway. Your response is rather more revealing.

From another rumour network... I suspect this is referring to said incident.
This morning at 0903 VH-OGB QF167 to Cairns/Tokyo took off RWY34L

If it wasn't for the observent eyes of a crew awaiting departure who reported the occurence, this FOD incident had the potential for disaster. At the very least it must have caused airborne holding and ground delays to other traffic.

[Redstone]

Son, we live in a world that has aeroplanes, and those aeroplanes have to be maintained by men with spanners. Whose gonna do it? You? ? I have a greater responsibility than you could possibly fathom. You weep for the tool bag, and you curse the engineers. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know. And my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves lives. You don't want the truth because deep down in places you don't talk about at parties, you want me on that ramp, you need me on that ramp. We use words like honor, code, loyalty. We use these words as the backbone of a life spent maintaining aircraft. You use them as a punchline. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very airworthiness that I provide, and then questions the manner in which I provide it. I would rather you just said thank you, and went on your way, Otherwise, I suggest you pick up a grease gun, and get your hands dirty......

[AnQrKa]

Very Witty Indeed. Priceless.

[Big Unit]

Redstone. Very funny indeed.:D :} . Sad thing is, the guy involved is a top worker. Every dog has his day i guess....

[rockarpee]

Thanks Redstone, tis been a while that a post on pprune has made me smile. Oh and in response to your post, Thankyou!!!!!:D

[Bolty McBolt]

NOICE ONE :ok:

Some of it way to true

[Redstone]

Big Unit, I know what you mean, there but for the grace of god......

An office worker walks to the photo copier, makes the required copys and then walks off leaving the original under the lid. He spoke to a co-worker about the footy, made a phone call, got distracted. No big deal. I am working night shift, in the rain, had a blue with the missus, I'm tired, I top up the engine oil and forget to replace the cap, 'cos I got distracted. Big deal. In flight shut down. Human factors are something us engineers are only just starting to look at more closely. We have always known that safety critical tasks probably are not what you want to be doing at 04:30 on your second night shift. Supervisors need to be reminded of this sometimes. We are human, we are fallible.


I think that the way we are wired to think dictates cause and effect, in other words for every "error" there must be a punishment, usually comensurate with the worst case scenario. By that I mean old mate in the office who left his original in the photo copier wouold rate very low on the punishment scale, while my good self very high because the out come of my error (which is not all that far removed from old mates) has much farther reaching consequences , even if my error was discovered before it became an issue.

What we need, and has to a certain extent been implemented, is a system whereby errors are investigated without bias so that systems can be implemented to prevent said errors from occuring in the future.

The only person to have never made a blue, is the person who has never done anything. We just need to be vigilant and if that means the job takes a bit longer......... then so be it.

[Big Unit]

The only person to have never made a blue, is the person who has never done anything.

Very true mate!

[king oath]

Redstone. I loved your post.

And, yes, I say thank you for that blanket. Cheers fellow professional.

[rammel]

Still on maintenance issues, in the area I work, I have noticed a larger than normal number of MELs lately. It seems to be more than before SYD engineering was told to pack their bags.

[Bolty McBolt]

Rammel

In regards to extra hold items and MELs.
With the closure of the 2 heavy maintenance lines 747 and 767 in SYD, the guys in SYD line have lost a valuable source of spares thru canniblisation. If a spare is nil stock (normal occurence) it was promptly robbed from the heavy maint aircraft to service a line aircraft.
Now it is up to logistics to provide parts and they are often found wanting in many ways.
It is just the beggining. :ouch:

PS I hope when management addresses the tool bag incident common sence prevails and looks at the human factors etc involved rather than just metering out punishment.

[Redstone]

Rammel, if you look at the average fleet utilization these days you will see that Qf are getting their moneys worth out of the 74 and 76 fleets. The daily average is higher than most (if not all) operators and ground time is these days a luxury. Full credit to the guys. And as Bolty pointed out, no more "cash and carry" from the heavy lines in Syd.

[The Mr Fixit]

Guys I think you missed the point totally

Jet Jockey opens this 'Post' but does not provide any factual information at all,

NO REG, NO APT, NO DATE, NO DEST ? ? ?

Sounds to me like he could be the guy that left the clamp on the Pornstar A/C

Regardless if it did occur, I fully support both Chem Alli and Redstone comments, the latter hitting the nail on the head.

I've never had a pilot, flight attendant or CASA surveyor hand me a spanner or torch while I adjusted and /or inspected a running engine at 4am.

Australia is the safest place to fly in the world, BAR NONE