lilya76•1mo agoProlific Poster

Found a cracked engine mount on a CRJ-200 during preflight in Wichita last Thursday

4 comments

4 Comments

I mean, that's one way to start your Thursday morning I guess. Nothing like a little "we are not flying today" surprise hiding under the cowling. Bet the line guy was real thrilled to hear you found it too, probably thought he was gonna get an easy pushback. Hope y'all had a backup plane or a really long coffee break waiting.

diana5121mo ago

Wait did you say they actually found that during the walkaround? That's insane, I can't believe someone would leave a cowling that loose on a plane that's about to fly. Honestly surprised it didn't vibrate off on the taxiway or something.

marywilson1mo agoTop Commenter

You say "did you think they actually found that during the walkaround" like it's some huge deal, but I've seen cracked engine mounts get missed on walkarounds and caught later by mechanics doing a full inspection. Walkarounds are good for spotting loose panels and flat tires, not hairline cracks in stressed metal. If anything, the real problem is that we train people to think a ten minute walkaround catches everything critical. That engine mount could have been cracked for days or weeks and still held up fine on multiple flights before someone finally noticed. So no, I'm not impressed by this find. I'm more concerned about the three or four other flights that flew with that same crack before Thursday.

vera_robinson3628d ago

That comment about "three or four other flights that flew with that same crack" really gets to me. You're right that these things don't always show up all at once, and it's unsettling to think how close we come to a bad situation without ever knowing. Glad someone finally caught it, even if it took longer than it should have.