Archives :: Aviation Maintenance Magazine :: Issue :: Departments :: Case Studies
Displaying 1 - 20 of 29 stories.
October 1, 2007
From their first flight in February of 2000, JetBlue Airways has been changing the way that airlines are managed and operated. Headquartered in Forest Hills, N.Y., "JetBlue is making an investment now, with an apprentice technician program, for the future of their company," said Frank Buratti, director of maintenance with JetBlue, "With a forecasted shortage of A&P technicians, this...October 1, 2006
UNCONTAINED ENGINE FAILURES An airworthiness directive (AD) calling for removal, inspection and reworking of high pressure turbine (HPT) disks beginning at 6,900 cycles is not good enough, declares the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). Disks with more than 3,000 cycles since new or since the last inspection should be removed immediately for maintenance, the NTSB says. "This significantly...September 1, 2006
The fuel tank explosion May 4 on a Malaysian-registered B727 freighter has added weight to the imperative to inert all fuel tanks, according to a National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). A July 20 letter was sent to the Federal Aviation Administration to buttress the NTSB argument, expressed earlier in March, that all fuel tanks, not just those with heat sources like air conditioning packs nearby, need...August 1, 2006
The TWA Flight 800 disaster in many respects reflects a failure of maintenance, and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) issued a press release as the 10th anniversary of the crash approached. The NTSB remains disappointed that fuel tank inerting has not been mandated. It does not appear likely that it ever will, given the fierce industry resistance (see AM, July 2006, p. 10). The NTSB's...July 1, 2006
SAFETY CASE STUDIES COCKPIT DOOR MELTDOWN Heat damaged wiring in the doorframe, above the locking solenoid of the cockpit security door, was discovered in post-incident examination of a World Airways MD-11. The door had sustained damage during cruise on a flight from Japan about 950 miles southwest of Anchorage, Alaska, on April 28, 2005, and diverted to Ted Stevens International Airport there with a...June 1, 2006
MAINTENANCE CHECKS OF COCKPIT VOICE RECORDERS The two pilots and eight passengers were killed when a Sikorsky S-76A helicopter supporting offshore oil drilling crashed in the Gulf of Mexico. The National Transportation Board (NTSB) investigated and concluded that the pilots failed to arrest the helicopter's descent to the water, for unknown reasons. One of the factors complicating the investigation was the...May 1, 2006
Gaps in procedures and less than professional attitude leads to engine power loss. MECHANIC BLAMED FOR AIRPLANE CRASH ON HIGHWAY The plane landed on a minivan in which a 12-year old girl was a passenger, and its propeller nearly sliced off the girl's entire left leg, leaving it attached to her body with just a shred of tissue. She has undergone at least five surgeries since. The pilot and his son were...April 1, 2006
Safety Case Studies examines aviation incidents and accidents that involved maintenance as either a probable cause or as a factor. The cases are culled from the National Transportation Safety Board database, from news reports, and from foreign accident investigation bureaus. SHADES OF THE ROSELAWN CRASH Unlike the American Eagle ATR-72 that fatally crashed at Roselawn, Ind., in 1994 from inflight icing...March 1, 2006
Contract Mechanic Sucked into Engine, Killed A mechanic, Donald Buchanan, working for Julie's Aircraft Services of El Paso, Texas as a contract maintenance provider for Continental Airlines, was sucked into a 737 engine and killed January 16, 2006. Buchanan was part of a team of three mechanics responding to a discrepancy report of an oil leak made by the first officer of the flight, according to Bill...March 1, 2006
Safety Case Studies examines aviation incidents and accidents that involved maintenance as either a probable cause or as a factor. The cases are culled from the National Transportation Safety Board database, from news reports and from foreign accident investigation bureaus. A Gulfstream V Maintenance Saga According to one message, the stuck landing gear was released by this method: "Shut down the...February 1, 2006
On October 27, the FAA released a new Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin--SAIB CE-06-05--warning mechanics to inspect and replace pre-1978 NAS-649 turnbuckles. The turnbuckles, which are used on aircraft flight control cables, are cracking in the barrel area, in turnbuckles with and without the V-notches used to secure quick safety clips. The number of NAS-649 turn-buckle barrels remaining in the...February 1, 2006
Accident Case Studies examines aviation accidents that involve maintenance as either a probable cause or factor. The information in Accident Case Studies is obtained from National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) reports, regulatory authorities and accident investigation bureaus, and research by the Aviation Maintenance staff. The information in Accident Case Studies is presented here to help the...December 1, 2005
Unapproved Parts Notification? A recent check of the unapproved parts notifcations posted on the FAA's website revealed an unusual entry. Listed there was a notice to all aircraft owners, operators, and maintenance organizations about aircraft and engines approved for return to service by Robert Gould. The UPN went on to state that Gould...December 1, 2005
Safety Case Studies examines aviation accidents that involve maintenance as either a probable cause or factor. The information in Safety Case Studies is obtained from National Transportation Safety Board reports, regulatory authorities and accident investigation bureaus, and research by the Aviation Maintenance staff. The information in Accident Case Studies is presented here to help the aviation...November 1, 2005
Safety Case Studies examines aviation accidents that involve maintenance as either a probable cause or factor. The information in Safety Case Studies is obtained from National Transportation Safety Board reports, regulatory au-thorities and accident investigation bureaus, and research by the Aviation Maintenance staff. The information in Safety Case Studies is presented here to help the aviation...November 1, 2005
Canadair CL-600: A repair station technician investigating an intermittent circuit breaker fault for this aircraft's upper anti-collision light wrote: "[I] discovered the L/H elevator control cable had torn through the wiring conduit in the vertical stabilizer. The cable wore through the conduit and shorted out the wiring for the upper beacon. [I] repaired the wiring conduit, replaced the wiring, and...July 1, 2004
The Entrepreneurial Spirit Find a viable market in a robust industry and give it all you've got. Such a business philosophy sounds good, but it would likely steer one away from the airline industry in recent years. It did not scare Jerry Hernandez away. Hernandez is a principal with Jacksonville, Florida-based Flightstar Aircraft Services. Located at the Jacksonville International Airport, Flightstar is a...April 1, 2004
In today's maintenance shop, eddy current, ultrasonic, X-ray, and other NDT technologies are becoming as commonplace as ratchet sets. As our reliance on these tests grows, we have to ask the question: how can we be sure our NDT tests are giving us the answers we need? One way to answer that question is to arrange for an in-depth capabilities audit by NDTec (www.ndtecinc.com). "NDT falls under what is...November 1, 2003
Neptune Aviation Services keeps an aging fleet of Lockheeds flying safely and reliably so they can fly another day in the endless fight against forest fires. Over the years, aviation maintenance professionals certainly see change. For example, Juan Trippe, founder of Pan American Airlines, understood that rapid technological progress made early airliners quickly obsolete, so he used them up and replaced...October 1, 2003
Sometimes finding a niche and filling the need for an alternative supplier of small high-wear parts in enough to create a viable business in aviation. Playing the numbers is probably a better investment than trying to start a small manufacturing business, particularly in industries as shaken and regulated as today's general aviation industry. Through good luck, timing, and hard work, Stene Aviation, a...
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