Showerthought: walked through the boneyard at Pima and spotted a 737 with the rudder PCU still tagged, made me think about our sign-off habits | Aircraft Mechanics - The Design Community Hub
Showerthought: walked through the boneyard at Pima and spotted a 737 with the rudder PCU still tagged, made me think about our sign-off habits
Was down in Tucson over the weekend and hit the Pima Air and Space Museum since I had a few hours to kill. Walking through the outdoor rows I noticed a 737-200 with the tail open and a component tag still wired to the rudder power control unit, dated from whenever that plane got parked. I stood there a while thinking about how many times I have seen guys sign off a task without ever laying eyes on the part, and how that tag outlived the airline, the mechanics, and probably the guy who wrote the repair order. Made me wonder how many of us really verify the serial number matches the paperwork before we stamp it. Do you all actually read tags on installed parts or just trust the last guy?
Man, a buddy of mine got burned on that exact thing, signed off a fuel pump job and the tag was from a totally different serial. He caught it two weeks later and had to eat the whole rework himself.