737 Flap Trim Repair - Bad Communication Judgment
 

Flying N611AS on Saturday as a passenger, looked out the window to see the following "notation" on the flap: http://i.imgur.com/Rr9wN.jpg

While I could see that it was a clean cut and too small to be a flight safety issue, the repair crew's method of communication didn't do a lot to instill confidence in their professionalism or general good sense.

Alaska's T w i t t e r support responded that it was a "permanent approved trim repair," but that the "method of communication was not appropriate." :)

Curious: By "trim repair," they mean trimming the break to a clean curve, and not something to do with the actual aircraft trim, right?

A stencil might be a better alternative to a Sharpie next time...

Maybe it was a message for the passengers seeing the damage.

Not to worry, we know about it and is ok.

That made my day :) Very funny way to communicate that this situation is known and OK.

Correct, nothing to do with aircraft trim.

A Sharpie is commonly used, however the text isn't. If they wanted to indicate a known repair they should have written the the E.A. (engineering authorization) or PLT number.

This is definitely a hint for the passenger...
Love it... :ok:

That made me smile as well. Only way to make it funnier would be a spelling mistake thrown in.

Wouldn't it normally be declared in the tech log airframe damage sheet as well?

Looks like they do have a control number 6713 in white but must have got many comments from folk that didn't know what the number meant.

Had a simiar experience with a missing winglet.

Written with a blue pen: the other one is still there.

Meh. It's a -700. Alaska doesn't seem to care as much about those and their appearance. Now, if had been an ETOPS bird, there would have been a nice lei around the bite.

Skyray: The writing will soon disappear, if it hasn't already. I just read a company e-mail compliance briefing about what is allowed to be written adjacent to allowable damage. Below the briefing is your picture as an example of what isn't acceptable.

I wonder if the text was an addition after the aircraft was returned to service? Perhaps pax had reported it and someone decided to write that there to reassure the pax on future flights. I do think it's kind of amusing personally.

It's amusing in retrospect, but 100% of the non-aviation-savvy passengers I've showed it to said they would find it alarming. (But also funny, since it wasn't a flight they were on.)

Yeelep, that's awesome that the photo ended up in the compliance briefing! I totally appreciate what the maintenance crew was going for there, but a lot of passengers don't have a good sense of humor about aircraft maintenance at 38,000 feet. :)

What would they have said if they saw the picture of the "damage" without the writing?

Quite a few would not have recognised it as damage, in spite of the discoloration; the trim is neat and for all many people know that's the shape of the flap, even if they've seen it a hundred times before in its normal shape.

To be recognised as such by all and sundry, damage should look crumpled, jagged, whatever, just obvious; or should have something written on it drawing attention to it.

You could also go along to your local cop shop and borrow one of their "Police Aware" sticky notices...

Skyray?
 

Skyray, were you the one on the plane? I work at KIRO7 in Seattle. Could you plz email me? jmilstein ( a t ) kirotv. com