Bird strikes, lightning strikes, wear and tear, loose nuts
and bolts - everything is inspected and repaired before an airliner can
take off again. Yang Jian talks to inspectors who signs the checklist
certifying that an airliner is safe and good to go.
When
an airliner touches down at Hongqiao International Airport, Zhao
Gangfeng, a senior aircraft maintenance engineer-inspector rushes onto
the tarmac with his two partners.
Armed with flashlight, tools and
clipboard, he crouches under the fuselage to carefully check the
undercarriage, engines, fuel tanks and other parts to ensure everything
is in good operating condition and every nut, bolt and screw is tight.
He checks the tires.
Zhao, a veteran with 24 years' of
maintenance, works for Shanghai-based China Eastern Airlines. He is one
of around 1,800 airline maintenance employes checking around 400 flights
that land and take off each day at the Hongqiao airport, according to
Huang Shaohu, deputy manager of China Eastern Engineering and Technology
Co.
Many thousands of maintenance workers are employed at
Hongqiao and Pudong international airports in Shanghai, going through
check lists required by Chinese and international civil aviation
authorities.
While Zhao checks the fuselage, one of the other two
inspectors on his team enters the cockpit and makes a thorough check,
with the other checking the tail and rudder.
After all the checks
required by civil aviation authorities are completed an hour or so
later, Zhao signs his name on a safety check-off chart to confirm the
airliner is ready to take off again.
Zhao makes minor repairs. If there's a serious problem, repair work is ordered at once.
By
this time, the team's uniforms are soaked through with sweat;
temperatures on the tarmac can reach 60 degrees Celsius, while those in
the cabin can reach 40 degrees in summer, when the air-conditioning is
switched off.
After a brief rest, when their uniforms are barely dry, they rush off to do the same thing again when another plane lands.
"We
must not only check every part carefully, but also complete the checks
as soon as possible to ensure the aircraft can take off on time," Zhao
says.
Zhao, 46, checks at least six aircraft every day, from 8am to 8pm. Then the night shift takes over.
As
head of his maintenance team, each time Zhao signs his name, he assumes
responsibility for the safety and airworthiness of every aircraft he
checks.
"Sometimes I feel pressure when I sign my name, but I
always tell myself to think of the pressure as responsibility for every
passenger onboard," Zhao says.
In all his years, he has never made a mistake in maintenance or certification of aircraft safety, Zhao says.
Bird
strikes are among the most common problems, occurring when birds and
aircraft collide during take off or landing. If the birds are sucked
into engines, there can be serious malfunctions.
"It can cause big
problems, since we have to change entire parts if there are bird
strikes on the wings or engine casings," Zhao says.
Some strikes
are obvious, but some can be difficult to notice. Zhao says they go over
the aircraft carefully, looking for blood, even tiny specs, as well as
feathers or dents, which could indicate impact damage beneath the
surface.
Lightning strikes are another problem, especially in
summer. Whenever inspectors spot a burn on the surface, they check
inside parts and electrical systems that could be damaged by lightning.
If
problems cannot be fixed in a short time, the aircraft is grounded and
repaired overnight, if possible, to ensure the flight schedule won't be
affected the following day.
Overnight work is not uncommon; Zhao works five nights a month.
Nighttime work on the tarmac is painful in winter, when temperatures are lower and the windchill makes it seem worse.
Liu
Xiaofeng, one of Zhao's colleagues, has been an airline mechanic for 20
years and says he has severe arthritis in his fingers and knees.
"Our fingers get wet with fuel while we repair engines and they turn numb when the cold wind blows," Liu says.
He
and others must crouch or kneel under the fuselage for several hours
during major repairs at night and it can get freezing cold. "Arthritis
is a common problem for nearly every mechanic here," Liu says.
Stomach
problems also are not uncommon since workers frequently must interrupt
their meals and rush to the runway whenever an aircraft lands. The food
can go bad in summer and get cold in winter.
Apart from daily
checks and repairs, inspection and maintenance staff such as Zhao and
Liu undertake longer, comprehensive checks on every aircraft every year.
One
of the biggest nuisances is the annual opening and checking of the
inflatable evacuation slides that are used in emergencies.
With a
big bang, the escape slide is fully inflated by 3,000 pounds of helium
within seven seconds. Then the slide is checked for leaks and damage. It
then takes at least four days for four men to refold the slides,
working in a small room, and put them back in place. Each large airliner
usually has three evacuation slides on each side.
Each slide also contains 15 emergency packages that include torches, signal flares and a simple sea water purification system.
At Hongqiao airport, China Eastern staff must check and fold 40 slides each month.
Despite
all the hard work and pressure, Zhao says he never regrets his work,
but he's sorry he doesn't have more time to spend with his wife and
12-year-old son.
He feels especially proud when his son points to an airliner in flight and says, "that's repaired by my father."
Source: http://www.shanghaidaily.com
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