Gary Markstein for January 09, 2024

Skin delamination is an Airbus thing.

Now appears to have been factory misinstalled: Loose bolts.

Pro Tip: If you have higher pressure on the INside of the airplane then it’s dumber than pretty much anybody I’d trust with a screwdriver to bolt it on from the OUTside.

Lion Air Flight 610 crashed in a nosedive shortly after take-off from Jakarta on October 29th, 2018 killing all 189 aboard. Ethiopian Flight 302 plummeted after take off from Addis Abada killing all 157 aboard on March 10th 2019. Boeing is a company who prioritizes profit over people. Boeing is a disaster.

I can remember years ago Boeing mega-planes being grounded due to a series of crashes. A multitude of problems were revealed. Everything from re-using defective parts painted bright red and tagged by QC, sealing windows and doors with duct tape, insulation stripped from wiring, and even a ladder left fully open against the rear steering control cables. So Boeing did what most American big businesses do in a severe safety crisis… try to hush the whole thing up. Because in America, it’s all about the money…

Totally incompetent. Everyone knows you should use duct tape.

Nobody died luckily

The Twilight Zone, version.2024

Gary has it wrong in this one! It was duct tape and not glue!

Elmers® glue is fine for elementary school but this needs industrial strength stuff like Gorilla® glue. See those commercials where just one drop holds tons.. half a tube would easily have held this plane together.

When one door closes another one opens.

A friend who used to work for GE Aircraft Engins, used to remind people that an aircraft is an extremely complex machine made of thousands of parts, all supplied by the lowest bidder.

Try gorilla glue instead. That stuff really works wonders

A Chick in the Cockpit

There was nothing nefarious about this. The CVR just keeps recording unless you pull the circuit breaker so by the time they got the aircraft on the ground, to the gate, everyone unloaded and maintenance came on board and remembered to pull the CB, it was two hours. The plane’s flight data recorder is still available. I listened to the ATC conversation with the pilot(s) and there is nothing that the crew could have done any different. Scary as it was, it was still a standard training scenario. Losing a plug and cabin pressure at 16,000 feet is terrifying for the passengers, but the news was saying everyone was close to death at that altitude. I hike above 14,000 feet in Colorado so a few moments, while seated, isn’t going to give you brain damage. The masks dropped appropriately and the passengers (at least on the videos I saw) remained calm. Now they want to use this incident as a reason to extend the CVR to 25 hours and they reference MH370. You have to have the aircraft to retrieve the CVR.

Actually. As it appears to be loose nuts and bolts may be the issue. Elmers glue works like locktite on the threads.

I have to wonder who did the design specs for this door panel? There are all sorts of fasteners designed not to shake, rattle or roll loose. The mechanics don’t just grab whatever is handy. A certain application, has certain hardware.

Oh well. Probably blame the guy least able to defend himself.

Flying tip of the day; Leave your lap belt on, loosen a little for comfort, don’t remove the belt. Turbulence will toss you around the cabin. That hurts.

Inspectors often write things up and are overridden by management

They pack us like sardines in an airliner, I’ll stick to hang gliding, even if there is a slightly significant chance I might get killed.

Oh how absurd! This cartoonist should be ashamed of themselves!!! Airlines would never use Elmers glue. They would use Gorilla construction adhesive and tape.