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United finds loose bolts on plug doors during 737 Max 9 inspections

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Re: United finds loose bolts on plug doors during 737 Max 9 inspections

#71

Post by nostromo »

tuckerpo wrote: post #10

It seems there's a sense of malaise falling over everything and everyone in the USA. People at large simply cannot be bothered to care about anything, including torque specs for freakin' AIRLINERS

You're catastrophizing a bit. This isn't an America problem it's a Boeing problem.

American air travel is safer than it's ever been. Going years without a single fatality is now the norm, not an exception. The airlines are well run and do care deeply about safety. The regulators aren't perfect but generally do a good job. The NTSB is world-class.

Boeing will continue to lose marketshare to Airbus and feel some pain which is appropriate. Eventually they'll get their act together or they will continue to suffer real consequences.

Re: United finds loose bolts on plug doors during 737 Max 9 inspections

#73

Post by btgeekboy »

aappleby wrote: post #37
xcv123 wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

[flagged]

It’s a current Fox News talking point. Don’t have a link at hand currently, but one host in a recent segment drew an explicit line between this disaster and DEI initiatives in general, with zero evidence. (As always, it was under the guise of “just asking questions.”)

Re: United finds loose bolts on plug doors during 737 Max 9 inspections

#74

Post by hef19898 »

eppp wrote: post #62
vidanay wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Probably one of those guys that says "click!" whenever they tighten a bolt.

How many times are the torque specs available to me when working on my car? I have no idea what random bolts are supposed to be so they get the good n tight click.

Workshop manuals are your friend.

Re: United finds loose bolts on plug doors during 737 Max 9 inspections

#75

Post by agubelu »

Sparkyte wrote: post #53
tuckerpo wrote: post #10

It seems there's a sense of malaise falling over everything and everyone in the USA. People at large simply cannot be bothered to care about anything, including torque specs for freakin' AIRLINERS

Culture problem as we hire people of a generation who were not educated or engrained with responsibility they avoid doing the right thing and this happens.

Yes, because no catastrophic defects have been present in airliners in the past 50 years.

Re: United finds loose bolts on plug doors during 737 Max 9 inspections

#76

Post by Scoundreller »

spike021 wrote: post #38
tuckerpo wrote: post #10

It seems there's a sense of malaise falling over everything and everyone in the USA. People at large simply cannot be bothered to care about anything, including torque specs for freakin' AIRLINERS

I know of a pretty famous car tuner in the US (I won't get too specific for various reasons) and despite most people in my community going to him for service over the years, multiple people have come out and proved he rarely if ever torques anything to spec. For the longest time he even allowed customers to watch in the shop space as he worked on their cars and he'd hand-torque many things that the car manual was ver…

My beef is that torque specs are for factory assembly. If you’re using new parts, sure, but once they’re old/re-used parts with some corrosion due to dissimilar metals, age or salt belt, you’re flying blind and probably undertorquing if going by the book.

Given the amount of (soft) aluminum on aircraft, (737 is 80% aluminum), it would be insane to not precisely consider torque.

Steel on steel is more forgiving.

Re: United finds loose bolts on plug doors during 737 Max 9 inspections

#77

Post by bob1029 »

jasode wrote: post #66
tuckerpo wrote: post #10

It seems there's a sense of malaise falling over everything and everyone in the USA. People at large simply cannot be bothered to care about anything, including torque specs for freakin' AIRLINERS

> People at large simply cannot be bothered to care about anything, including torque specs for freakin' AIRLINERS It may have not been operator error with the torque wrench. Maybe the torque wrench itself was miscalibrated. Maybe the bolt had a flaw in the metal. It seems too early to make conclusions. An example of flawed bolts on aircraft in an excerpt from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1369702…

> It seems too early to make conclusions.

In this specific case, I would agree.

I share much of the sentiment of the OP, but I wonder if it is simply my perspective changing as I take on more and more responsibilities. Maybe things have always kind of been this way.

I would be hesitant to say it's all going to hell in a handbasket because that tends to be one of those self-fulfiling prophecies. I prefer to look at things as "challenging, but workable".

Re: United finds loose bolts on plug doors during 737 Max 9 inspections

#79

Post by vidanay »

eppp wrote: post #62
vidanay wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Probably one of those guys that says "click!" whenever they tighten a bolt.

How many times are the torque specs available to me when working on my car? I have no idea what random bolts are supposed to be so they get the good n tight click.

Buy a service manual for your vehicle? I have yet to see an important fastener without a specification (torque and pattern).

If you are a professional mechanic, it's your responsibility to obtain the specifications and follow them. This is especially true when it comes to a licensed and certified A&P mechanic and not your neighborhood shadetree mechanic.

Re: United finds loose bolts on plug doors during 737 Max 9 inspections

#80

Post by jskrablin »

tuckerpo wrote: post #10

It seems there's a sense of malaise falling over everything and everyone in the USA. People at large simply cannot be bothered to care about anything, including torque specs for freakin' AIRLINERS

Or use a few drops of threadlocker...
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