Gee.... I only meant to ask a simple question, to advance my knowledge and understanding of this aircraft.I'm sure we can keep everything on a lighter note.I do appreciate all the assistance, however.

Hey Q, When I was based in Bahrain I dated a ex Gulf Air flight attendant for 5 years and I have nothing but respect for what these underpaid men and woman do. However I have been informed that on a large number of occasions senior flight attendenst had to pull other staff up on the disposal of liquid waste in flight. We all know that in any incident more then one factor comes into play and it goes right up the chain to the guys sitting behind desks, however due to fact that my family now fly Qantas 3-4 times a year EGLL-WSSS I get a little ###### when I hear people are cutting corners. Anyway this is off topic, sorry if I offended any one :)Rob

Sorry if I sounded so abrupt, guys.... Lots of people seemed to jump to (wrong) conclusions on this one.There really were a lot of factors contributing to this. This event has already highlighted an error in the Boeing Maintenance Manual (I made some enquiries about the (correct) mounting of heat sensors on the drain plumbing... The manual didn't provide sufficient info on this. I hope to see a change incorporated in all airline 744 maintenance manuals in the next few months thanks to my extra initiative :().Anyway, I'm certainly a lot wiser after this incident. Safety is important, but it's also important not to overreact to these sort of things... like grounding entire fleets of aircraft types. If we did that, there would be no aicraft flying at all... and we would all have to swim/walk to our destinations ;) Boeing aircraft are surprisingly resilient (if treated with care). In a week or so, it will be the 20th anniversary of the first 744 test flight... and I hope to still be working on them until I retire (still a long way off.. I hope)Cheers.Q>

Haha, guess I'm used to the 2-engine Boeings and their RATs. My apologies. Been a while since I took the Queen to the sky, been in a 767 too much. ;)- Jake

>Boeing aircraft are surprisingly resilient (if>treated with care). In a week or so, it will be the 20th>anniversary of the first 744 test flight... and I hope to>still be working on them until I retire (still a long way>off.. I hope)>>Cheers.>Q>April 29, 1988- a very important day in history (yes, it has a reminder in my BlackBerry, and yes, my wife is convinced I am in need of electroshock therapy ;) )Best-Carl F. Avari-Cooper BAW0225http://online.vatsimindicators.net/980091/523.png