The famous Aircraft Mechanic.

The famous Aircraft Mechanic/Engineer.

An error or mistake by a pilot while flying is known almost immediately but when an error or mistake is committed by an aircraft mechanic it could be either known immediately, maybe the next flight, maybe in six months or stay hidden until certain combination of conditions is aligned which could be really catastrophic for the flight.

There are many factors that affect safety and the airworthiness but one major contributor is the part where we humans interfere and broadly classified under human factors. We aircraft mechanics bound by oath never ever intentionally perform unapproved maintenance on an aircraft that is not as per the approved documents that we are always encouraged to refer at work. However, there are times when a lot of factors at work are not directly in control of the aircraft mechanic and a work is performed which is not as per the norms or standards that are set by the approved documents.

How does an aircraft Mechanic get into situations like this?

The answer was identified and written by Gordon Dupont in 1993 while he worked for Transport Canada.

1.??????Lack of Communication

2.??????Complacency

3.??????Lack of Knowledge

4.??????Distractions

5.??????Lack of Teamwork

6.??????Fatigue

7.??????Lack of resources

8.??????Pressure

9.??????Lack of Assertiveness

10.??Stress

11.??Lack of Awareness

12.??Norms

We are all aware of the famous dirty dozen posters, they have always been displayed prominently in our work places to remind us to keep a check on ourselves and our colleagues who are part of the team around us.?It won’t be a surprise that we still have more than once found ourselves either actively or remotely to be a party to one of the quality assurance investigations to find out the root cause of how an error or mistake occurred. This is because we are finally one big team of aircraft maintenance crew who are at some time crossing paths and responsibilities while at work in the shift.

This industry intrinsically works on trust. There is no other special mantra for it. There could be several SMS and QMS documents written and practised within an organisation, hundreds of hours of trainings imparted to the entire team, but the I personally feel the biggest contributor to an aircraft to fly unscathed is the factor of trust that runs in the maintenance organisation. The accountable manager trusts the Director of Maintenance, the Director of Maintenance trusts the Maintenance Manager, the Maintenance Manager trust the Shift Managers, the Shift Managers trust the Aircraft Engineers/Inspectors, the Aircraft Engineers trusts the Aircraft Mechanics and finally the pilot, cabin crew and passengers trust the last face seen during the aircraft departure who issues a certificate of release to service.

This trust is earned by performing consistently over a period of time in various organisations in this small world of aviation where everyone knows someone who knows everyone. Pun intended! If you perform 1 million hours of perfect work and unluckily are involved in 1 hour of bad work, there is a human tendency to always be remembered by the one hour of work that made you famous.

My suggestion to all the young mechanics is always strive to not become famous! Stay sharp, stay focused, stay alert.

I am here to help.

Let’s have a great new week ahead!