Daily life of an Aircraft Mechanic

Daily life of an Aircraft Mechanic

Picture this. I was the new guy on the job. Almost everything I did was highly scrutinized. As with any busy FBO, mechanics are pulled off one job to go work on a job that has suddenly higher priority. You are constantly switching gears mentally and trying to regroup. It is one thing that makes our job as GA mechanics so hard. But, its also part of what makes it rewarding. At the end day you can look back and see just how much you accomplished, whether that’s through work orders completed, or hours billed, or callouts responded to. However you want to quantify it, it is usually a lot and quite varied in content.

Aircraft Maintenance Schedules

            One day I was doing an oil change on an SR22T. Routine, easy maintenance. In my opinion, changing oil with a quick drain, on a 6 cylinder recip, is easier than most modern cars. I had just cut open and inspected the filter when a Cirrus owner busts into the shop with an “urgent” maintenance issue. His flaps will not retract. My director of maintenance comes over and tells me to go help out the new customer and he will take over for me on the oil change. Boom. Switch gears. Figure out whats going on with the flaps.

            Fast forward a few days. Both aircraft are gone. New aircraft are in the shop. The DOM calls me into his office and its obvious something is wrong and I’m in trouble.

He asks, “Hey, remember that oil change on Mr. Carlson’s Cirrus?” I nod my head. “Well, check out this picture.”

            He turns his computer monitor towards me and I see something that no mechanic wants to see. There is an open end wrench under the cowl and up on the oil cooler.

The owner was hopping mad. He thankfully had not flown with it, and likely it would have remained in that spot throughout out the duration of the flight with no damage to the cooler. But, the problem was that it had been left, and it could have been much worse. At that point he was planning on never returning to us for maintenance.

            So here I am. New guy. Leaving wrenches around. I am abashed. And then I remember, “Wait! I didn’t finish that job, you did! I know I used that wrench, but you finished the oil change and closed it up!”

            Now, my DOM had more than two decades of experience. He had probably done hundreds of oil changes. Multiple even on that tail number. But, that day he forgot the wrench. Who knows what the issue was. I think it was a Friday. Maybe he was in a hurry to get home and get that nice boat of his out on the lake. But the bottom line was he got complacent that afternoon. It was an easy job, he had done it hundreds of times.

            The reader may look at this and say, “but where was his tool control! Why wasn’t there a second pair of eyes?!” There are plenty of ways that this particular incident could have been prevented, and trust me, we have all left tools behind, but the point is that complacency can happen to us all. It can look like left behind tools, missing fasteners, or banged up wingtips (hangar rash).

            Be on your guard. Complacency is a silent killer. It is responsible for countless incidents and many, many fatal accidents. Before and after every task, take stock of what is going on and what needs to be done. Pay attention to the external variables. Slow down. Shadow your toolbox. Call up another mechanic or even a line guy from the FBO for a second pair of eyes and step them through what you have done. None of us need to have an accident on our hands, but more than that, we all want to have a good reputation with coworkers and customers. Stay sharp out there.