Creaking / cracking during ascent phase - symptom of metal fatigue?

[scroggins]

Thanks for the constructive comments, TomU, your opinion is much appreciated.

old,not bold: For a single specific source, you could review the stats at airsafe.com. With a few notable exceptions, airlines in the U.S. / Canada / Western Europe / Australia have fatal event rates well under 1 in 1,000,000 - with most under 1 in 2,000,000. For most other parts of the world, this is unfortunately not the case.

And even though various airlines in the Gulf have thus far amassed exemplary safety statistics, the relatively low number of flights compared to, say, American Airlines or British Airways, makes their safety records not quite as convincing.

[givemewings]

I hear this many times especially on Airbus near upper deck doors, they creak a lot on climb and quiet almost as soon as level off. Always been told its normal when reported. Bearing in mind it was not by any means "metallic" but clearly plastic components on the inside of the door flexing (-slideraft cover usually)

[scroggins]

Thanks givemewings, hopefully that's all it was. The sound didn't strike me as being one that plastic would ordinarily make, but of course it's difficult to say that with any degree of certainty.

I should stress again, though, that the sound was primarily emanating from the upper left and left side of the fuselage - neither me nor my wife noted the sound from the exit doors we were sitting closest to, which were on the right side of the plane.

[old,not bold]

the relatively low number of flights .... makes their safety records not quite as convincing.

Why, exactly? That is a statistical fallacy. As you say,

various airlines in the Gulf have thus far amassed exemplary safety statistics

and indeed they have. The reason is NOT the "relatively low number of flights"; it IS because they have had few, if any, accidents. Gulf Air has been operating for 50 ++ years; from recollection, their record, apart from terrorist action, includes a DC3 which failed to get off the ground before the end of the Seeb runway from which everyone walked away (1960-s?), a total loss of an Airbus (?) at Bahrain more recently, and perhaps 1 or 2 others. Not bad for 50 years, don't you think?

Oh, and two incidents following uncontained catastrophic disintegration of TPE 331 engines in Skyvans due to a gross design error (1970s). After the second the Omani authorities issued an AD for immediate corrective action to ensure that it could not happen again, as it could without the action. The UK CAA (design authority) and FAA decided, under commercial pressure, that 4 years should be allowed, and they would probably do the same today in similar circumstances except that EASA would be the design authority. So much for integrity, an asset sadly lacking in the UK CAA today, as it always has been.

I suspect that you have an instinctive faith that so long as white people, preferably English-speaking, operate, fly and maintain the aircraft all is OK. I know that that is an ad hominen remark, but this belief shines through your posts. If you had had the exposure to UK and European airlines' methods and practices, and to regulators in UK and Europe, that I have had since 1980 and continue to have now you may not be so sure.

Edit; The DC3 incident was not Seeb, it was a strip somewhere towards Seeb (definitely not Bait al Falaj, where the outcome might have been different). Was that called Azaiba? Memory is fading fast!

[Piltdown Man]

Returning back to the OP's question:

Could this creaking have been a symptom of metal fatigue?

When things make noise, something is getting worn out or broken. But the important question is: Will it break on my flight? The answer is most unlikely. Aircraft are near enough hand made and each and every one is just slightly different from another. So some will make more noise than another. I'll suggest that the root cause of the noise described is the aircraft (slightly) changing shape due to pressurisation. Virtually every airline follows a manufacturer's routine inspection procedure which should identify components which need replacement/repair well before their failure. And even if parts do fail, most aircraft still remain flyable (Aloha, Air SouthWest etc.)

[scroggins]

Thanks for offering your thoughts, Piltdown Man. I did have the Aloha incident in mind, though the fact that it was able to land strikes me as a bit of a fluke. China Airlines Flight 611 also came to mind, which as you know did not have such a fortunate outcome.

Still, the key point in your post is the unlikelihood of something actually breaking on one specific flight, out of the the tens thousands in the life of any given aircraft. Yes, it is always extremely unlikely, but nevertheless the mere suggestion of anything out of the ordinary is quite worrisome.

ONB: Your decision to utilize unfounded personal attacks in our discussion makes continuing the debate rather undesirable. However, I will simply point out that my observation was not a "statistical fallacy." If a person is shooting free throws on a basketball court and makes 10 for 10 it is an impressive feat, but I'd put my money any day on the guy who has made 999 out 1,000.