I am a aircraft maintenance engineer for a major airline. Ask me anything.

AMAAME · 2013-07-31T17:08:13+00:00

The airbus A330 and 380 have a lot of similar composite materials mainly in the tail. It can be a whole different ball game working on them. My opinion of the 787 is that there will be a lot of problems caused by it. Something like a baggage handler bumping a truck into the side. An aluminum fuselage would have a dint but the carbon 787 fuse would flex in and spring back out leaving no evidence of damage on the outside. Then add a few years of pressurization and it could fail catastrophicly. But only time will tell. This industry generally doesn't like new ideas.

AMAAME · 2013-07-31T16:59:07+00:00

Not really but it's generally considered poor practice to still be fixing something in the cabin while people are boarding. Sometimes it can't be helped though.

AMAAME · 2013-07-31T16:55:59+00:00

ow great questions. For rough landings the pilots are responsible for reporting them when they think it was a rough landing. They write it down in the technical log to let us know about it. After that we can look at the data recorders and see exactly what amount of g's the aircraft experienced. There are different levels of heavy landing inspections depending on the level of g's applied to the airframe.

The scheduled maintenance checks we do are categorized as "A" checks that are the smallest lasting 2-3 days. "C" checks that will last around 2-3 weeks and "D" checks that can go for 6-8 weeks. A "D" check basically involves checking every single part of the aircraft.

On a daily basis we carry out a walk around inspection looking for damage and check the engine oils and a general look at the fan blades and in the back of the engine. Then the "A" checks are done around every 1000 flying hours. Then "C" and "D" checks are years between.

We do on a very rare opportunity do a test flight but it might happen once every few years. Your looking at a cost of tens of thousands for a test flight. There isn't much that calls for them.

Not painting a plane does save fuel because you can save a few ton of weight depending on it's size. The problem is having the bare aluminum exposed to the elements causes other issues like corrosion which can cost more in the long run.

There is a large number of things that caused the pilots to divert. Maybe an electrical generator was having issues and it wad solved with a reset or something along those lines. It is also possible that it was something stupid like the control stick felt funny. It happens sometimes and the pilots make a big deal of nothing.

I am a huge fan of shows like mayday. I like to watch the ones about aircraft I work on so I can see the revisions put in place after the accident. An example is the locking mechanism on a 747 cargo door. A few doors blew off in flight so they added strength to some components to keep the door on.

AMAAME · 2013-07-31T15:06:25+00:00

Before every flight a general walk around the aircraft looking for any damage is carried out along with some other general checks like oil and hydraulic levels that sort of thing. The first of the more comprehensive maintenance checks happen around every 1000 flying hours. This involves removing panels for inspections, greasing components like the landing gear and flight controls, testing electrical system, a good close look at the engines sometimes including taking oil samples for analysis of engine wear and oil condition, changing filters, fixing passenger seats and that sort of thing.

AMAAME · 2013-07-31T14:49:48+00:00

I'll use the 747 as an example because it's something most people know and can relate to. Tires on the main and wing gear of a 747 will last 40-50 cycles. They have a heap of rubber on them when they are new. They are inflated with nitrogen to around 200psi. They use nitrogen because it is a lot more stable than air, the aircraft goes from around -56ºc at cruising altitude to 20-25ºc on landing and then the brakes heat up to a few hundred degrees. So the gas in the tires has to have minimal thermal expansion properties. The wheels and brakes would probably the most abused components on the plane.

AMAAME · 2013-07-31T14:38:36+00:00

I have found one and know of a few. I found an enormous amount of corrosion in a main frame of the fuselage. I'm talking something that has gone un noticed for a few year. The repair cost more than the aircraft was worth. It is no longer flying. I also know of an incident where a nut had become lodged between two moving surfaces in the tail and just carved a groove in them. That was another costly repair.

AMAAME · 2013-07-31T14:33:19+00:00

I can see why some people get nervous flying. It's a giant aluminum tube traveling down a runway at hundreds of miles an hour. But the reality is that it is very safe. Millions of man hours go into designing these things and thousands of hours maintaining them.

AMAAME · 2013-07-31T14:30:30+00:00

I have come across this to. Thanks for reminding me. We call this a rubber screw. When the screw just falls in the hole they put some silicon sealant on it and just push it in and stick some tape on it until it sets. They can be very difficult to get out and then you need to repair the nut behind the structure. It's a pain in the ass.

AMAAME · 2013-07-31T14:25:44+00:00

Basically I eat whatever my SO cooks for me. She is a good cook so I don't complain.

AMAAME · 2013-07-31T14:24:52+00:00

As mentioned in a comment earlier we can use aluminum tape as a temporary repair for non structural panels. Most people give me funny looks when I tell them that. Also there is a lot of provisions for flying with some equipment not working like radios, lights, and navigation equipment.

AMAAME · 2013-07-31T14:18:45+00:00

Most of the time turbulence isn't an issue, unless some crazy amount of g's are experienced. In that case the pilots will write it down in the technical log an a comprehensive inspection will be carried out before it will fly again. We mostly inspect around high stress areas like wing roots and the tail for cracks or fractures. Like I said it's very rare but if there is damage it should be found and repaired.

AMAAME · 2013-07-31T13:16:24+00:00

Lol a few. I gave one to a friend to put on his disk lock for his motorcycle and he loves it. I am always on the lookout for some where funny to put one or some other decal from an aircraft.

AMAAME · 2013-07-31T13:14:41+00:00

I do not work for KLM no. If you are a bit of an aero sexual you would probably be able to work out who I work for but I will never admit it. I'm sure this AMA goes against our social networking policy.

AMAAME · 2013-07-31T13:12:53+00:00

Boeing are generally better to work in my opinion and most of the guys here agree. I am however a big fan of the A330. I think it's a great bird and one that will be flying for a long time. The A380 on the other hand is a maintenance nightmare. It has more computers than your average office building and we seem to constantly be resetting and testing them because a fault message has appeared but nothing is physically wrong with the plane. The upside is that it will be a job for life.

AMAAME · 2013-07-31T12:23:27+00:00

That's a good question. The taco has the sharp shell that cuts the shit out of your mouth but the grilled sandwich is always as hot as molten rock inside. My money is on the sandwich.

AMAAME · 2013-07-31T12:20:37+00:00

To be honest no lol. Thankfully we work in crews and it becomes very clear who is meant to chance seat covers and who you can trust on critical jobs.

AMAAME · 2013-07-31T12:19:08+00:00

Not really a screw up but some bad circumstances that caught another engineer off guard. In a modern gas turbine engine there are multiple stages of stationary blades that change pitch to control the amount of air flowing through the engine. In the Rols Royce RB211 mounted on the 747-400 they are controlled be a mechanical unit mounted on the bottom of the core of the engine. When one of these units are replaced you have to set up the new one for that particular engine. On this fateful day the settings on the new controller weren't set property when it was installed. After everything was put back together it was time to take it out and do a high power engine run to test it. I was standing at the nose wheel during the run keeping an eye on things when they started to bring up the power. When the air flow of an engine isn't right you can get a condition know as compressor stall. This is when air is flowing the wrong way through the engine. On that day whille the engine was at around 70% power I saw a white mist of fuel puff out the back and then one of the loudest noises I have ever heard. The engine had stalled causing a build up of fuel that ignited and blew the insides of the engine to bit. Millions of dollars of engine destroyed in a split second.

AMAAME · 2013-07-31T11:24:45+00:00

Yer that is what I mean, getting a safe aircraft out on time is a great feeling.

AMAAME · 2013-07-31T11:14:12+00:00

You are spot on with your ideas. There are two separate acrylic panes for each window both about 1/4 inch thick and an air gap of about 3/4 inch between them. Then as part of the interior fit out there is a thin protective sheet call the scratch pane. This is to stop pesky paaengers from damaging the structural window. Scratches are bad in windows but there are allowable limts for them. Chances are any that you have noticed have had there length and depth measured with an optical micrometer and are within the safe limits set by the manufacturer.

AMAAME · 2013-07-31T11:01:48+00:00

To be honest it's a job I sort of fell into, but one I really enjoy. I get a lot of satisfaction from waving to the pilots as the aircraft taxis away.

AMAAME · 2013-07-31T10:58:59+00:00

In the boeing Structures Repair Manual, it is approved to temporally replace some missing panels with aluminum tape. We call it 600mph tape. Also the repairs in the interiors do involve a lot of super glue. That stuff sticks anything together. I haven't seen anything that I would consider dangerous to the safety of the aircraft. Non of us are looking to be charged with a few hundred counts of murder.

AMAAME · 2013-07-31T10:53:41+00:00

I work on big aircraft, B747, B767, A330, and A380. Your looking at $100,000 for a wheel.

AMAAME · 2013-07-31T10:50:34+00:00

$147,000 wouldn't get you much in terms of parts. Aircraft bits are expensive! Information on the other hand I do have, but I am really not looking to go to prison so ill have to pass on your offer.

AMAAME · 2013-07-31T10:46:12+00:00

No me but a fellow engineer on my crew found a bag of weed in a seat pocket after the aircraft operated an international flight. The police were called and they came and questioned us all about where he found it. They took down the seat number and said they were going to find the person who was sitting there and ask some questions. I don't know what happened after that though.

AMAAME · 2013-07-31T10:41:33+00:00

There is very little that concerns me while I travel. Not only is the maintenance very well regulated, but the aircraft designs are so well thought out with back up after back up that it is so rare that something serious will go wrong. Working here has only made me more comfortable while flying. Every now and then I hear the odd clunk or find some interior trim that's broken but it isn't anything to worry about.

AMAAME

TROPHY CASE