American Airlines mechanic Azriel “Al” Blackman has died • Hacker News Board

Re: American Airlines mechanic Azriel “Al” Blackman has died

#111

Post by roosterIllusi0n » Tue, Sep 01, 2026, 3:57 PM UTC

embedding-shape wrote: post #5

How many apprentices did this guy managed to put through the pipeline before his career was over? It always shocks me how low this number tends to be for highly skilled craftsmen. They spend their century maintaining/creating some of the best work on the planet but when they disappear, unenumerable amount of knowledge, tips and experience silently disappears as quickly as it was gained, and it's sad to observe every…

We let CEOs earn unlimited money. They cut all the training to be personally richer.

Vote republicans out so we can restore the 1950s tax rates and financial regs that prevented CEOs fron cutting wages and outsourcing to make themselves personally richer. CEOs pay nothing for their stock, it is given them for free. Then they take tax free loans on the stock and that allows them to bubble the stock price for tax free loan money. CEOs self enrich off of a cycle of bubbles and pops.

Re: American Airlines mechanic Azriel “Al” Blackman has died

#112

Post by barbazoo » Tue, Sep 01, 2026, 3:59 PM UTC

analog31 wrote: post #93

embedding-shape wrote: post #5

How many apprentices did this guy managed to put through the pipeline before his career was over? It always shocks me how low this number tends to be for highly skilled craftsmen. They spend their century maintaining/creating some of the best work on the planet but when they disappear, unenumerable amount of knowledge, tips and experience silently disappears as quickly as it was gained, and it's sad to observe every…

I work in a mid sized engineering organization, and the older engineers (and engineer-adjacent people like me) mentor the younger ones all the time. One thing that can't be codified in procedures is what I call "situational awareness" for lack of a better term. I don't think you can learn how to work in a machine shop safely from a book. Or recognize when a complex design is heading towards being unworkable. In my or…

> I don't think you can learn how to work in a machine shop safely from a book. Or recognize when a complex design is heading towards being unworkable.

This strikes me as something one learns very slowly over time. Safety takes time to internalize after close calls or seeing people get hurt. Same with complexity, it takes going through project after project to get a gut feeling for what works and what doesn't.

Re: American Airlines mechanic Azriel “Al” Blackman has died

#113

Post by larrywright » Tue, Sep 01, 2026, 4:06 PM UTC

realo wrote: post #39

rhplus wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> unenumerable amount of knowledge, tips and experience silently disappears Not to be negative about experts here, but of all industries, isn’t airline maintenance one of the most documented and standard procedure focused of them all? I would hope that someone maintaining a 777 doesn’t have to remember certain tricks or tips outside of what the manuals say, and when mistakes are found, they’d be noted, investigated a…

Well ... It takes four years of education before becoming a taxi driver in London: https://thetaxi.academy/ It takes also many years of study before they will let you touch any living person with your scalpel, and then many years of apprenticeship with actual surgeons when you do touch people with your tools. I can imagine maintaining a big jumbo jet also requires some specialized practical knowledge you cannot acqui…

> It takes four years of education before becoming a taxi driver in London

I’ve only been to London once, for work. One of the coolest things I did when I was there was to take a black London cab from the financial district to Heathrow when I was leaving. It was probably a 30 minute drive. The driver had been driving a cab since 1982. He told me all about the requirements and training for being a cab driver and a bunch of other things that I did not know (for example, they own the cars, and they can choose when they work). He was also a wealth of information about London, as you can imagine, and pointed out lots of interesting things as we drove.

It was probably a $50 cab ride, but worth every penny (even though it wasn’t my money since it was a work trip).

Re: American Airlines mechanic Azriel “Al” Blackman has died

#114

Post by hamdingers » Tue, Sep 01, 2026, 4:08 PM UTC

Blackthorn wrote: post #47

embedding-shape wrote: post #5

How many apprentices did this guy managed to put through the pipeline before his career was over? It always shocks me how low this number tends to be for highly skilled craftsmen. They spend their century maintaining/creating some of the best work on the planet but when they disappear, unenumerable amount of knowledge, tips and experience silently disappears as quickly as it was gained, and it's sad to observe every…

Some people do a lot as least. Forrest Addy has a massive library of posts that are still the top results on Google for just about any machining problem imaginable.

It takes a rare multi-talented person to do this though. First you have to attain mastery of the craft itself, then you have to master (or at least be competent in) the art of communicating it to others.

Some mechanics are just good mechanics, and that's okay.

Re: American Airlines mechanic Azriel “Al” Blackman has died

#115

Post by chasd00 » Tue, Sep 01, 2026, 4:14 PM UTC

WarmWash wrote: post #82

rhplus wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> unenumerable amount of knowledge, tips and experience silently disappears Not to be negative about experts here, but of all industries, isn’t airline maintenance one of the most documented and standard procedure focused of them all? I would hope that someone maintaining a 777 doesn’t have to remember certain tricks or tips outside of what the manuals say, and when mistakes are found, they’d be noted, investigated a…

I implore everyone to take on a nut and bolts (or resistors and transistors) hardware project sometime in their life to learn what it's like working on "Mother Nature OS". I guess a more relatable way of conveying this is that you can have the recipe from a michelin star chef, but you're still not going to get anywhere close to michelin star quality.

heh the first time i took on a project as a new homeowner (building a deck) i learned this lesson. I spec'd everything out on paper and covered all the bases and felt pretty confident. Then I purchased the wood and so many pieces weren't the size advertised and i don't mean how a 2x4 is not really 2 inches by 4 inches. Some pieces were 3/4" too short, others too long, some straight but most weren't. It took so many trips to/from home depot and went over budget and wayyy over time.

oh and post holes, some are easy and some you hit mystery chunks of concrete(!?). It was like archaeological expedition trying to get deep enough holes in the ground.

Re: American Airlines mechanic Azriel “Al” Blackman has died

#116

Post by vidarh » Tue, Sep 01, 2026, 4:21 PM UTC

kelseyfrog wrote: post #110

skinwill wrote: post #51

A buddy of mine is the son of a United Airlines mechanic who was fairly high up in the organization. When his dad passed United gave him a stack of blank wax tickets. His son could write the destination on them and fly for free. Near the end of the stack they were largely ornamental as he could just tell them where he wanted to go and they would print a proper ticket. But still, it was a rather classy way to honor hi…

I haven't heard the term before. What's a 'wax ticket'?

It refers to exactly what they describe: A blank, open-ended ticket you can fill in by hand.

Re: American Airlines mechanic Azriel “Al” Blackman has died

#117

Post by 4fterd4rk » Tue, Sep 01, 2026, 4:28 PM UTC

rhplus wrote: post #34

embedding-shape wrote: post #5

How many apprentices did this guy managed to put through the pipeline before his career was over? It always shocks me how low this number tends to be for highly skilled craftsmen. They spend their century maintaining/creating some of the best work on the planet but when they disappear, unenumerable amount of knowledge, tips and experience silently disappears as quickly as it was gained, and it's sad to observe every…

> unenumerable amount of knowledge, tips and experience silently disappears Not to be negative about experts here, but of all industries, isn’t airline maintenance one of the most documented and standard procedure focused of them all? I would hope that someone maintaining a 777 doesn’t have to remember certain tricks or tips outside of what the manuals say, and when mistakes are found, they’d be noted, investigated a…

Sure, but you are always going to get the "thing makes a strange noise but it isn't doing it now" ticket and there isn't going to be a "occasional strange noise" checklist.

Re: American Airlines mechanic Azriel “Al” Blackman has died

#118

Post by mindcrime » Tue, Sep 01, 2026, 4:29 PM UTC

bonesss wrote: post #62

zulgin wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is a famous story about how an F16 got grounded because an half inch metal pin was missing from the cockpit canopy. Nobody knew what the pin did or if it was even necessary but you can't fly a plan that 'missing a part'. After several days of being grounded they finally reached out to a guy who had retired 20 years ago who told them the pin was a part of a analogue sensor that had been replaced nearly 30 years…

I babysat for a military fighter jet mechanic when I was young, he said when they dismantled and rebuilt planes there was a drawer for all the spare parts that were left over.

Rap's Law of Inanimate Reproduction[1] strikes again!

[1]: "If you take something apart and put it back together again enough times, eventually you have two if it."

Re: American Airlines mechanic Azriel “Al” Blackman has died

#119

Post by magiclaw » Tue, Sep 01, 2026, 4:30 PM UTC

vidarh wrote: post #116

kelseyfrog wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I haven't heard the term before. What's a 'wax ticket'?

It refers to exactly what they describe: A blank, open-ended ticket you can fill in by hand.

It's translucent slab of pale honey-scented wax whose faint, imprinted digits will distort if you press them too firmly. Also keep away from even moderate heat.

Re: American Airlines mechanic Azriel “Al” Blackman has died

#120

Post by dghlsakjg » Tue, Sep 01, 2026, 4:37 PM UTC

m463 wrote: post #89

sokoloff wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> but you can't fly a plan that 'missing a part' It’s a great story, but I assure you there is a pretty high percentage of airplanes flying with missing parts and systems placarded as INOP in both military and civilian aviation.

I remember touring the assembly line for military jets. There were posters everywhere about "extra parts" they called FOD.

FOD applies more broadly than that, as well. Candy wrappers on the runway is also FOD.

It stands for foreign object debris, and means any physical thing out of place where it may cause damage or injury. Because of the nature of jet engines, basically anything can be FOD depending on where you put it.