Bits fall off a plane

[big fraidy cat]

Honestly, I am not sure whether to laugh or cry over the following news brief on the Kathimerini website today:

Passengers had to stick a piece back onto their plane

BERLIN (AFP) - German holidaymakers found themselves using adhesive tape to stick together the interior of a plane operated by a Turkish airline with a troubled safety record, a German newspaper said yesterday. The midair repair job came during an Onur Air flight from Antalya in southern Turkey to the eastern German city of Leipzig, the Bild newspaper said. “The pilot started the engines. Suddenly a piece of the interior of the plane fell on our heads. Some of the holidaymakers started to scream,” one of the passengers, Gunnar Storch, 34, told the Bild. “Behind the interior casing, we could see the exposed wiring. It wasn’t a very reassuring sight.”


Wasn\'t it fortunate that the tourists were travelling with tape!

[flash8]

bits falling off in the cabin - shock horror!
Only yesterday I diy'ed an intra-seat fitting that had "fallen off"
click in place and bobs your uncle
whatever next!

[Groundgripper]

'The midair repair job...................... “The pilot started the engines. Suddenly a piece of the interior of the plane fell on our heads................". '
Hmmm - nice to see the reporter was paying attention.

"Wasn't it fortunate that the tourists were travelling with tape!"
It helps to keep the towels on the sunbeds in a high wind.


Reminds me of the time I was travelling from Toronto to Calgary on an Air Canada scarebus. As I was sitting in an emergency exit row I got a briefing before take-off on how to operate the door. After a completely uneventual flight, touchdown was announced by the door operating handle cover dropping onto my lap, much to everyones' amusement. It wasn't that bad a landing, either.

GG

[big fraidy cat]

Several years ago, I was a watching a CNN news program that aired weekly and covered lots of different topics. Can't for the life of me remember the name of the journalist, but at the end of each program, he had a short segment called the reporter's journal (something like that). Anyway, he proceeded to recall a flight he took with Aeroflot while covering a story in the former USSR. The seatbelt light came on, and as he was groping around for the two ends which had fallen to the floor, he noticed, to his amazement, that his seat was not even bolted to the cabin floor!!

Again, the story had a happy ending (and landing)!!

[smudgethecat]

big bloody deal, a piece of cabin trim fell off, it happens all the time and suddenly some muppet has writen a story of how the aircraft was falling to bits around the passengers total bollox as per usual

[skydriller]

Normally I would be lining up to bash journos on their reporting of incidents......BUT

If I was on an airliner and the interior was indeed falling off such that wiring & hydraulics etc was exposed, I think I too would not be very impressed. Normal wear and tear is one thing, but I would also wonder that if the airline maintenence poeple let the interior get into such a state that major bits of it are falling off, what about more critical systems?

This of course assumes that what has been written is accurate...

There have been 2 incidents recently here in France where Pax have refused to get on aircraft that they thought were 'falling apart'. I believe one of which was Turkish......which may account for the interest in this case?

Regards, SD..

[iskandra]

I think it's no big deal either- as long as nothing falls off *outside* the aircraft....
I mean, does all the plastic stuff, lining and such inside the cabin, get the same safety checks as an aircraft's engines? I don't think so.

btw, WHY has this short thread already had 409088 views????

[Wannabe Flyboy]

btw, WHY has this short thread already had 409088 views????

Probably because the journos have jumped on the title :P

[Rollingthunder]

iskandra

Actually a good airline will have a good cabin maintenance department. The aircraft has to be dealt with as a whole. You either take care of it all or you don't. One of the earliest lessons I learned was that if the tray table falls down or is crooked the pax will look out the window and wonder if the engine is bolted on correctly. Now, what was the name of that airline again, because I won't be flying them.

[iskandra]

Rollingthunder,

I was just not so sure about cabin maintenance, as even on rather expensive flights, I have seen cabins in less than pristine condition...I just kept thinking all efforts go to safety, not beauty.

[Taildragger67]

Tend to agree with those who say that the state of the interior gives an indication of the general maint culture of the organisation as a whole... a grotty cabin naturally raises questions as to what other corners are being cut.

Then again, I was once in a Qantas DC-4 going up to NLK when we passed through a rain squall and the lady next to me had to open her umbrella... the old girl (the a/c, not the pax) had sprung a leak...

[Groundgripper]

Quote:
btw, WHY has this short thread already had 409088 views????

It's because it first appeared on page 67 of the thread on the Helios crash in Rumour and News and was, quite rightly, transferred to a more appropriate forum.

GG