Posted on 08/08/2012 10:40:19 AM PDT by matt1234
A passenger on an Alaska Airlines flight looked out the window and saw what looked like a damaged area on the wing with a handwritten note saying, "We know about this."
A photo was posted on social media sites about the note a passenger spotted on July 28th.
Seattle-based Alaska Airlines says the plane was safe and there was nothing to worry about. There was an approved trim repair to the corner flap on the right wing. A maintenance technician wrote a note on the wing to let the flight crew know that it wasn't a problem - they were on it.
The airline reassured passengers the message was the result of a technician's good intentions. Still the Sharpie message on the plane did not follow company procedures, and has since been removed.
Looks like all the sharp edges and cracks were remove to keep the problem from spreading. A normal maintenance procedure.
Yeah, they just found a stress crack. They probably should have covered it up with some duck tape!
“They probably should have covered it up with some duck tape!”
Ever see that pic of the guy in Alaska whose plane was ripped up by a bear? He fixed it up with Duct Tape, and flew it out!
I was trying to find some of the aluminum tape they use for aircraft repairs. When I finally found a company and called them, the man who answered asked what width I wanted. All I needed was a 2” wide roll. Previously he had gotten a call from someone looking for a 2 foot wide roll. Someone had run a forklift into a plane.
FWIW, it doesn’t come in rolls that wide. It is great stuff. Some folks call it 100 mph tape or some such.
Yeah. There’s two types of duct tape that I’ve used. The cloth stuff, which is okay, but I definitely prefer the aluminum stuff! Wrap a duct with that stuff, burnish it down with a screwdriver handle or something, and you need a torch to get it off!
One of them owned an old Porterfield, not even registered, no numbers anywhere. It had bent 20p nails in the control surface hinges, worked like a charm. I actually flew in the damned thing.
Yeah, I used it on my Baron nose baggage door when someone broke into it breaking the latches at Santa Monica AP. Got me back to Seattle! Now only go to Van Nuys.
Many folks fly thinking that nothing ever breaks on an aircraft. I guess they assume that they are thrown away after the break.
In the USAF, we called it Speed Tape.
Forty years ago at an airport I will not name some taildragger owners flew their planes with “100 MPH tape” holding them together.
It sounds like an episode from the Twilight Zone, “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet.” Was Willliam Shatner on the plane?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dar2HKImK-0
“It had bent 20p nails in the control surface hinges, worked like a charm. I actually flew in the damned thing.”
BWAAA! “Necessity is the Mother of Invention!”
That is a stupid company procedure. Passengers are just as much a part of the potential eyes to identify serious problems in flight. A false alarm is better than no alarm at all.
I recall the report of an member of the Air Force passenger on a commercial flight who spotted and reported a serious fuel leak on a transpacific flight.
The airliner would have never reached its intended destination.
“Looks like all the sharp edges and cracks were remove to keep the problem from spreading. A normal maintenance procedure.”
You are correct. I used to file dings in props down all the time.
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