Community Chat

[golding76]

[Recommendations are made, airlines oppose (this time with tragic consequences).  Now FAA is mandating inspections of fan blades like the one that broke on the Southwest flight.]

https://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/national-international/Southwest-Opposed-Timeline-of-Recommended...

[Vivian]

I heard someone on a news program refer to the FAA as the coffin organization, i.e., they don’t do anything until someone dies in an airplane tragedy. Now the truth comes out about how Southwest opposed yearly inspections of airplane engine blades..YEARLY? I’ve seen the quick turnarounds of flights and wondered how safe we were with no time to be sure the plane was adequately maintained. We have to bring our cars in for inspections every year. We should have to do the same for vehicles that operate at over 30,000 feet. The FAA needs to live up to its mandate so that passengers like that poor woman in the Southwest plane could live.

[vermint]

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@Vivian wrote:

I heard someone on a news program refer to the FAA as the coffin organization, i.e., they don’t do anything until someone dies in an airplane tragedy. Now the truth comes out about how Southwest opposed yearly inspections of airplane engine blades..YEARLY? I’ve seen the quick turnarounds of flights and wondered how safe we were with no time to be sure the plane was adequately maintained. We have to bring our cars in for inspections every year. We should have to do the same for vehicles that operate at over 30,000 feet. The FAA needs to live up to its mandate so that passengers like that poor woman in the Southwest plane could live.

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We haven't had car inspections in our state for years...though I think we should!

[golding76]

It is well understood by those in aviation who are the movers and the cognoscenti that FAA rules are "written in blood," so to speak.  Sadly, accidents must occur for them to feel they need to draw up a rule.

As I have written before, I was never an aviation safety inspector and do not have the constant and rigorous training of that tribe, but I was often disappointed by what I perceived as the agency's shortcomings when it came to inspections that would satisfy my standards for review and repair.   I hasten to add that "my standards" are those of a white-knuckled flyer.

[golding76]

To toot the FAA's horn, though, it is the agency whose best practices have been picked up and used by multiple organizations and businesses.  Imitation is, after all, the sincerest form of flattery.

--Hospitals now have checklists that are in imitation of the pilot checklists gone over before a flight.  Other groups now use a checklist, too.

-- Many organizations and businesses now follow the FAA's "Lessons Learned" model, whereby a study is conducted following an accident (or other unwanted outcome) to learn the precise nature of what went wrong, with the goal of preventing it from ever occurring again.

I personally salute the ingenuity of these best practices, all devised by FAA personnel.

You might be surprised at some of the ingenuity and downright genius of so many FAAers. 

[Apple Crisp]

@golding76 This story is so very sad 😔! I don't think I will ever fly a window seat again. Inspections must be mandatory!

[FrostyBabe1]

I'm not defending the airline industry in general, or Southwest specifically, but there are some subtle nuances/inferences that people seem to be making that make a world of difference.

They did not refuse to inspect their engines, nor were they asked do it on a yearly basis. CFM, the engine manufacture recommended that it be done within 12 months. The FAA never took any action or issued an airworthiness directive. Southwest said they would do the inspections, but needed more time because of the number of aircraft involved and asked for an 18 month timeline. If one reads/listens to the entire news article in the OP, you'll see that they did comply with the recommended inspections. If it took them 18 months, then some fan blades would have been inspected more recently than they would've been if they'd done it over a 12 month time frame. NOW the FAA says they'll issue the airworthiness directive once they figure out the appropriate time frame within which to require the inspections. Many of those inspections may already be taking place when the aircraft go in for their regular A,B,C or D maintenance checks. 

[golding76]

[The FAA issued an Airworthiness Directive (AD) to have the questionable engines inspected.]

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/20/faa-issues-emergency-order-for-airlines-to-inspect-fan-blades-on-eng...

[FrostyBabe1]

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@golding76 wrote:

[The FAA issued an Airworthiness Directive (AD) to have the questionable engines inspected.]

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/20/faa-issues-emergency-order-for-airlines-to-inspect-fan-blades-on-eng...

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So the manufacturer recommended it for engines with 20,000+ cycles which would be approximately 2500 engines, but the FAA order is for inspection within 20 days for engines with 30,000+ cycles, which will only affect 681 engines worldwide. Hmmmm. Let's hope that since the inspection can be done in about 4 hours without removing the engine from the wing that airlines opt to handle those between 20,000 - 30,000 cycles voluntarily. American Airlines says that none of their 737-800's have reached the point where inspection is required. 

[Shorty2U]

They found pieces of that plane 2 miles up from my daughter in PA. I had chills when I heard that.Thank GOD that pilot got them to Philly. My thoughts and prayers are with the deceased woman's family. So sad.

My husband will never fly. His best friend (and friends wife) were killed in a crash in NY years back. My husband said the only way he will get on a flying device is if hes out of it, and med vac'd by a chopper. (I on the other hand used to fly all the time but don't now just because of my back issues, but I trust the pilot more than people driving cars on the bypasses)..