Safely maintaining your airplane it’s just as important as flying it safely. A lot of us recognize one of the ingredients to make our flying less dangerous and safer is good maintenance. In the same time, sometimes we give little thought to ways to make airplane maintenance itself less dangerous and safer. The fact is the typical private pilot-or better performing preventative maintenance under FAR 43, Annex A does not pay enough attention to safety while working on aircraft. Some professionals do not either. As an airplane mechanic and aviator for over 50 years, I’ve witnessed one or more accident leading to injury while working on aircraft.
However a little common sense goes a considerable way toward working safely and promote a safe work environment around airplane when working with others or alone. Preparation – It appears obviousto help reduce risk and ensure safety, you need to come up along with a planbut too frequently, we dont. Wed ideally have a check-list of sorts on how a job will be done and what steps must be taken to ensure work is accomplished in a manner that is safe. Probably the most crucial things, of course, is that your mind should be clear so that you can concentrate on what you’re doing.
Fatigue and distractions can significantly impact your personal safety as well as bystanders if you’re not focused on the task at hand. Safety when working on planes should be taken to a high level than you’d apply when repairing a leaky faucet in your home. Not only should you think and plan for safety while performing the work by hand, but considers that performing a task improperly may have a serious impact on the aircrafts reliability. As an airplane owner working on one’s own plane, you need to take pride in maintaining your airplane in excellent condition and in so doing, you should make every effort to learn what it can take to do the job properly in the safest manner possible.
Airplanes are expensive to repair and errors during maintenance might be costlya plane might be replaced, a human cannot. As with most endeavors, planning helps to ensure job completion, reduces errors and offer the best opportunity for a job one might be proud of. It might seem pointless to plan a simple job you’ve done often times before. However in reality, even the simplest task needs a plan of some kind. So how does someone put together a plan of sorts and what issues can be encountered throughout the task at hand? Approved Data and Procedures – Something which numerous people seem to ignore as the primary source of info for servicing an airplane is the service guide describing the task you intend to perform. Not all service info is in the manufacturer’s service manualthere likely is additional info covering individual components like starters, pumps, alternators, brakes and wheels, to mention a few.
How many of us know there’s a maximum inflation pressure stamped on tires? Exceeding this value might be dangerous as a tire that bursts or a wheel that uncontrollably comes apart might be like a bomb that may kill you or bystanders.
