Redefining Airmanship by Tony T. Kern

Author:Tony T. Kern
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: McGraw Hill LLC
Published: 1997-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

Maintenance factors

Even the best designed and equipped aircraft can become a death trap if it is poorly maintained, and maintenance factors must be considered when we assess aircraft risk. But this can be a difficult task for many pilots and other flight crewmembers, who are often not mechanically inclined or trained to make difficult systems assessments. Four areas can be looked into by the novice: documentation, time, parts, and servicing.

All aircraft are required to maintain detailed maintenance records. As operators, we must be fully conversant with what the various parts of this documentation mean to us. There will likely still remain some areas that remain mystical and shrouded in secrecy by the “brotherhood of the wrench.” Ask questions until you receive satisfactory answers. At a minimum, we must be able to determine if the aircraft meets current inspection requirements, has been preflighted, and what the recent maintenance discrepancies have been.

The second area of concern for the operator should be the airframe time, usually measured in flight hours. This is not just a “total hour” concern but can indicate other high-risk events in an aircraft’s life cycle. For example, we should be suspicious of an aircraft that has not flown recently. Why hasn’t anyone flown it lately? Was it down for repairs? If so, what were they? Is there a problem with the aircraft that has caused others to refuse to fly it?

Likewise, care should be taken when flying a brand-new aircraft or one that has just returned from a “phase inspection,” teardown, or overhaul. These are the times when the aircraft has been visited by many specialists and “knucklebusters,” all who attempt to do a good job, but the risk of error is increased by the many operations that are required during these inspections. The flights that immediately follow these inspections are when maintenance-related failures are most likely to occur.

Closely related to documentation are aircraft parts and servicing. Any replaced or repaired part should be viewed as the source of a potential hazard, and most pilots in command will go as far as making these mandatory briefing items to the rest of the crew. Additionally, aircraft servicing should be carefully checked, not just to see that it was done, but to ensure that it was done correctly. Keep in mind that the servicing specialists are often the most junior and least skilled members of the maintenance team, as well as often being the most overworked and time-stressed. This combination can lead to problems of under- or overservicing or failure to close up servicing access caps, doors, and panels.

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