The time a cargo plane's paperwork was more lost than my 10mm socket

Last month, we had a 737 freighter in for a routine check in Memphis. The job itself was fine, but the paperwork for a replaced flap track roller was a whole other story. I swear, that single serviceable tag must have taken a tour of the entire hangar. It turned up in the break room microwave (don't ask), then got paper-clipped to a completely unrelated engine log, and I finally found it three days later tucked inside the cover of the maintenance manual I was using. The lead just looked at it, sighed, and said, 'Well, at least it's not in the belly of the plane.' Has anyone else had a part's paperwork go on a wilder adventure than the part itself?

3 comments

3 Comments

beth_anderson2mo ago

Once found a fuel line inspection tag taped to the bottom of a coffee pot.

veraramirez2mo ago

That story from @beth_anderson is a perfect example of shop life. Things get mixed up when you're in a rush. Makes you wonder what else is misplaced.

lucas1592d ago

Yeah "makes you wonder what else is misplaced" really hits it. It's like that feeling you get when you find one weird thing out of place and then you start second-guessing everything around you. I've noticed that kind of thing happens way more than we realize, not just in shops but in daily life too. Like how you'll find a sock in the living room and then suddenly you're wondering if you left the garage door open or something. It's just one of those little cracks in the routine that makes you question all the other little assumptions you carry around.