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Reading an old FAA report on a DC-3 crash from the 50s, the cause was a single cracked engine mount bolt.
I found the document in a stack of papers at a hangar sale in Daytona Beach. It made me think about how one small part can ground a whole aircraft. How often do you guys actually check those specific bolts during a routine inspection?
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miles_burns2mo ago
Totally get what you mean about the small things. That report sounds like a sobering read. Michaeld48 is right, it makes you look at everything differently. I bet mechanics have a whole checklist for those specific bolts now because of crashes like that. It's scary to think how much trust we put in a few pieces of metal.
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taylor.reese2mo ago
Honestly, it's not just the checklist though. Tbh, the real problem is when people rush and skip steps even when the checklist exists. Michaeld48's cabinet example is spot on, because someone probably thought one missing screw wouldn't matter. Ngl, it's the same mindset that causes the big disasters. We see it all the time, people taking shortcuts because a part looks fine or seems tight enough. That tiny bit of wear or that one bolt you didn't double-check is always the thing that fails.
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kelly38526d ago
Drives me NUTS watching people skip the "little" stuff. It's like they think the checklist is just a suggestion and that ONE loose bolt or missing screw is no big deal, until the WHOLE thing falls apart and makes the news.
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michaeld482mo ago
Wow, that's a wild find. It's crazy how something so small can cause a total failure. I see that everywhere now, like one stripped screw making a whole kitchen cabinet fall off the wall. Makes you wonder what other tiny things we're all ignoring until they break, right?
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