July 10, 20223 yr Should we ask if all the other major airlines that have had "loose" screws or cowling flaps or flew an entire trip with the pitot tubes covered or ducts taped over do maintenance as well? What if the mounting bar underneath broke causing the screws to dislodge? Lot's of other alternatives than implying they don't do maintenance... If something coming loose on one plane in a fleet means an entire airline doesn't do maintenance then no airlines do maintenance... Have a Wonderful Day -Paul Solk
July 10, 20223 yr Seriously!! For a start those are rivets and not screws and is not unheard of for these to loosen over time or in this case break. As you can see there are different rivet types on the fairing and by the fact there is no sealant between the fairing tip and the rest of the fairing,it would suggest that the tip had been removed recently. It's possible that those mush head rivets are temporary,which would have been advised in the mel or more likely cdl but without checking the tech log who knows. Over time screws, rivets come loose or fall out. Its just the nature of the beast with general vibration landing cycles etc . Most of the time these things are picked up during turnrounds or routine maint and is nothing to really worry about and would suggest that Air China is doing its maint just fine. As an aside the daily check sheet for a nightstop walkround is desribed from ground level, it does not specifically checking the upper wing surfaces. I think those are on a weekly or monthly check. Cheers Pete Little
July 11, 20223 yr I've seen other airline aeroplanes exhibit this. As noted, when you do a walkaround there is no way to see that part. I do check the flap canoes on a walkaround, but from below since this is where I am, as I check all the other bits and have on occasion called out an engineer to tighten up some screws on the belly fairings (notably on BA Airbuses). I do recall seeing an SAS jet come in a few years back with the flap canoe fairing missing, and it did despatch out with this still missing, so it's clearly not a major problem, other than losing the part in flight and possibly having that fall on someone or something below, and of course it probably doesn't improve the aerodynamics much either. I think people might be surprised to see how battered many airliners actually are. Clearly the aeroplane in the video does have some bits which need fixing, but it's really not that uncommon to see a few loose or missing screws/rivets. You find them on the ramp from time to time although obviously it's impossible to tell which thing they have come off. I am collecting them; one day I will have enough to make my very own Boeing 737. 🤣 Edited July 11, 20223 yr by Chock Alan Bradbury Check out my youtube flight sim videos: Here
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