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Vent: A regional airline in Phoenix tried to skip a full flap rig check last week
They had a write-up for a slow flap on one side and wanted us to just swap the actuator. The book clearly says you have to do a full rig after any control surface actuator change. Their lead said 'we've gotten away with it before' to save two hours. I shut that down hard and made them sign off on the extra time. When did 'getting away with it' become an okay plan for flight controls? Anyone else run into this kind of corner cutting lately?
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caleb_price24d ago
Tell me more about their lead's reaction when you pushed back. Did he try to argue with the book or just grumble about the schedule? I've seen guys get real creative when they're trying to save time on a Friday.
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robinson.hannah25d ago
Good on you for shutting that down. My personal motto is "getting away with it" works great until you're explaining it to the NTSB (and that's a meeting I'd like to skip). It's wild how that kind of thinking can creep in, especially when the book is so clear. Saving two hours isn't worth the risk of writing off a whole airplane.
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