Aircraft Maintenance

**RustyBattleship** · 25 Jan 07,, 01:10

You might want to think twice the next time you fly on a Chinese Airline.

A pilot for a Chinese carrier requested permission and landed at FRA, (Germany) for an unscheduled refueling stop. The reason became soon apparent to the ground crew: The Number 3 engine had been shutdown previously because of excessive vibration, and because it didn't look too good. It had apparently been no problem for the tough guys back in China: as they took some sturdy straps and wrapped them around two of the fan blades and the structures behind, thus stopping any unwanted windmilling (engine spinning by itself due to airflow passing through the blades during flight) and associated uncomfortable vibration caused by the suboptimal fan.

Note that the straps are seat belts....how resourceful! After making the "repairs", off they went into the wild blue yonder with another revenue-making flight on only three engines! With the increased fuel consumption, they got a bit low on fuel, and just set it down at the closest airport (FRA) for a quick refill.

That's when the problems started: The Germans, who are kind of picky about this stuff, inspected the malfunctioning engine and immediately grounded the aircraft. Besides the seat belts, notice the appalling condition of the fan blades. The airline operator had to send a chunk of money to get the first engine replaced (took about 10 days).

The repair contractor decided to do some impromptu inspection work on the other engines, none of which looked all that great either. The result: a total of 3 engines were eventually changed on this plane before it was permitted to fly again."

**dave lukins** · 25 Jan 07,, 01:24

RustyBattleship, I hope a massive fine follows as a warning to others. You would have to see the pictures to believe it...incredible stupidity

**MarquezRazor** · 25 Jan 07,, 07:24

Originally Posted by dave lukins

RustyBattleship, I hope a massive fine follows as a warning to others. You would have to see the pictures to believe it...incredible stupidity

Yeah!The incredible stupidity could have been converted to a incredible disaster!

Hopefully they checked the other 3 fans as well!

**~~SnowLeopard~~** · 25 Jan 07,, 07:51

Whatever happened to holding things together with that green tape?

Actually, in a way, that's a little bit refreshing. It's nice to know that in China, an up and coming country of smart industrialists that threatens to take control of the world market, ....................

...................... they have their engineering idiots, too.
--------------------------------------
(As the aeronautical engineers in occupied France are being lined up against the wall because the Germans flew one of their creations, crashed, and died, "We are lovers! ........ not engineers!"--(w,stte), 60's or 70's Playboy humor)

**RustyBattleship** · 25 Jan 07,, 17:57

Originally Posted by MarquezRazor

Yeah!The incredible stupidity could have been converted to a incredible disaster!

Hopefully they checked the other 3 fans as well!

Read the last paragraph. They changed out two more as well.

**leib10** · 25 Jan 07,, 18:01

Wow. The seat belt quick-fix defies all belief.

**highsea** · 25 Jan 07,, 18:02

Those pics are frightening. Needless to say, I won't be flying on any Chinese airlines!

It's amazing those engines held together.

**MarquezRazor** · 25 Jan 07,, 18:04

Originally Posted by RustyBattleship

Read the last paragraph. They changed out two more as well.

Yeah..I kinda missed that!

**glyn** · 25 Jan 07,, 19:04

That incident happened a while ago. The Chinese standards are improving all the time, I'm pleased to say. The rate at which China and India have been ordering (mostly) new build aircraft from Europe and the US is amazing. It is speculated that the armed services of those countries will be denuded of pilots and mechanics to put and keep the commercial show on the road.

**CMartel** · 25 Jan 07,, 19:25

Originally Posted by highsea

Those pics are frightening. Needless to say, I won't be flying on any Chinese airlines!

the public will, if the price is right. like everyone else, they will go on Expedia.com and sign up for the cheapest flight that gets them from A to B.

If its Eastern Mongolian Airlines and it comes in $3 below American or Delta, the public will buy.

**highsea** · 25 Jan 07,, 21:21

Originally Posted by CMartel

the public will, if the price is right. like everyone else, they will go on Expedia.com and sign up for the cheapest flight that gets them from A to B.

You're right about that. I'm definitely not the average traveler, having spent many years building these planes.

I book my flights by type and age, lol.

**omon** · 25 Jan 07,, 21:46

Originally Posted by CMartel

If its Eastern Mongolian Airlines and it comes in $3 below American or Delta, the public will buy.

never heard of that airline crahses.

**gunnut** · 25 Jan 07,, 22:18

The more I see these things, the more I appreciate lawyers.

We rarely question the quality of the stuff we buy or the services we use. We assume they are up to par. Why? Because businesses are afraid of law suits. Law suits reduce profits. Profit is to businesses like life is to humans. People don't normal kill themselves for no good reasons and businesses don't like to rack up a good loss for no good reasons.

Sure, there are some slimy scumbag lawyers who file frivolous suits just like there are shady companies that make defraud your money. But they are still in the minority.

Lawyers and law suits in America serve an important function of keeping shady businesses in check.

I salute the lawyers for keeping us safe and providing us with a high standard of living.

**highsea** · 25 Jan 07,, 22:26

We operate a little differently in the US, lol. I was on a flight in Alaska, just sitting on the pad in Juneau when a cowl latch gave out. They grounded the plane and sent another one to take the passengers. No doubt there are many places where the plane would have kept going with the one broken latch.

I tend to "pre-flight" even commercial planes anymore, at least as best I can from the terminal and ramp. If I see something I don't like, I go sit in the bar till the next flight...

**wabpilot** · 25 Jan 07,, 23:55

I spent sixteen years flying for a US major air carrier, eighteen months flying for a regional and five years flying corporate after my naval career. We would never fly anything like what is described above. I tend to agree, lawyers have done a great service in keeping the industry honest and safe. But, the industry also deserves a lot of credit too. US corporate and airline aviation are the safest transportation systems in the world. Having just come off a long tour that took me from Ft. Worth, to Argentina, to South Africa, to Kenya, and finally to Dresden, I have gotten to see a lot of different aviation systems at work. Like Highsea, I tend to "pre-flight" the plane even if I'm not in the left front seat. If things don't look right, I stay on the ground. During my last three years of airline flying, I worked in the training department. We had contracts to train Russian pilots to fly the B737. What a different world they came from! Even though they were excellent pilots, the maintenance standards at Aeroflot were and are not up to western expectations.