Aircraft dropping like flies

[Sindawe]

Well, isn't this just special. Mechanics working on aircraft who cannot speak, read or write English, which the repair and service manuals are written in.  The FAA who is supposed to oversee and ensure the safety of air travel?  They declined to be interviewed.

News 8 Investigates: Airline mechanics who can't read English

10:03 AM CDT on Saturday, May 16, 2009

By BYRON HARRIS / WFAA-TV


There is evidence of years of problems in testing these mechanics. There is also evidence that hundreds of mechanics with questionable licenses are working on aircraft in Texas.

Now there is evidence of repair facilities hiring low-wage mechanics who can't read English.

Twenty-one people were killed when U.S. Airways Express Flight 5481 crashed in Charlotte, North Carolina in 2003. The plane went wildly out of control on takeoff.

One reason for the crash, investigators found, was that mechanics incorrectly connected the cables to some of the plane's control surfaces in the repair shop. The FAA was cited for improper oversight of the repair process.

Repairing airplanes is a complicated business. Airplanes have many manuals. Typically, when mechanics repair a part, they open the manual, consult the book, and make the repair step-by-step, as if it were a recipe book.

They make a list of every action they take, so the next person to fix the plane (as well as the people who fly it) will know exactly what has been done.

If mechanics don't speak English, the international language of aviation, they can't read the manual and they can't record their activities.

There are more than 236 FAA-certified aircraft repair stations in Texas, according to the FAA's Web site. News 8 has learned that hundreds of the mechanics working in those shops do not speak English and are unable to read repair manuals for today's sophisticated aircraft.

Former FAA inspector Bill McNease told News 8 he regularly encountered applicants for pilots’ licenses who tried to pretend they could speak English — but could not.

"When I was based in Dallas, I had that happen every week," McNease said. "It was not uncommon at all to have foreign flight students. We had mechanics, but I handled the pilot end of it.... and I turned down people every week because they couldn't speak English."

"There are people [where I work] who do not know how to read a maintenance manual as they are spelled out, because they don't have a clue," said one certified aircraft mechanic who works at a Texas aircraft repair station. He wished to remain anonymous to protect his employment.

To certify a part for flight or repair an engine, a mechanic must be licensed by the FAA as an Airframe and Powerplant mechanic, known in the business as an "A&P."

News 8 discovered that mechanics at one licensing center in San Antonio were being tested in Spanish as late as last fall. The FAA ultimately shut the facility down.

Supervisors in Texas repair stations say they are supposed to oversee the repairs of dozens of untrained mechanics who can't read the manuals and can't write down the work they've done.

But the FAA does not require every person working at a repair station to be a certified A&P. One certified A&P can sign off on the work of dozens of uncertified mechanics.

That creates a huge problem, another certified mechanic told News 8. "I need an interpreter to talk to these people," he said. "They can't read the manuals, they can't write, and I have so many working for me I can't be sure of the work they've done."

To be sure of proper quality, the supervisor has to either re-do the work himself or take the chance that no mistakes have been made. There is a push to get work out the door and planes back in the air. But when he signs his name to certify the repair for flight, he is legally responsible for it.

The root of the problem is money, mechanics say. A certified mechanic can earn upwards of $25 an hour in Texas. Technicians who can't speak English are often hired for less than $10, according to mechanics interviewed by News 8.

"I've been wanting to leave this company since the day I got there," said one certified A&P. "But with the economy the way it is, I've got kids to feed and I have to stay there. I don't want to be anywhere near one of those planes when it kills somebody."

The FAA is supposed to police repair stations, but insiders say the agency is more focused on looking at paperwork than inspecting the facilities. Insiders also say inspectors warn repair stations when they're coming.

"In Dallas, most of them would map it out and tell them what day they were going to be there," said Gene Bland, a former FAA inspector.

Safety, mechanics say, is at risk. "In my opinion," said one, "company owners should all be locked up because someone's going to die eventually, if it hasn't already happened."

Texas' two biggest airlines, American and Southwest, both require mechanics and the technicians who work under them to speak, read and write English.

But mechanics who work elsewhere — whose repairs often end up on commercial airliners — say their shops are filled with non-English speakers.

The FAA declined to be interviewed for this report.

Source: http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dws/wfaa/latestnews/stories/wfaa090515-_lj_harris.7a4a7d4.html

[Balog]

[liberal voice]Well, you're obviously racist for bringing this up.[/liberal voice]

[Marnoot]

Well obviously the aircraft manufacturers should make their manuals available in all languages. Also, all components in the aircraft should be labeled in a sensitive manner. Terms such as "master" and "slave" cylinder, etc. must be avoided. 

[Brad Johnson]

Well, isn't this just special. Mechanics working on aircraft who cannot speak, read or write English, which the repair and service manuals are written in.  The FAA who is supposed to oversee and ensure the safety of air travel? 

To certify a part for flight or repair an engine, a mechanic must be licensed by the FAA as an Airframe and Powerplant mechanic, known in the business as an "A&P."

....

But the FAA does not require every person working at a repair station to be a certified A&P. One certified A&P can sign off on the work of dozens of uncertified mechanics.

The problem ain't the FAA.  It's companies that skirt the rules by hiring a dozen communication-challenged workers and one A&P.

Brad

[AZRedhawk44]

If mechanics don't speak English, the international language of aviation, they can't read the manual and they can't record their activities.

English is also the international language of computer programming.  I wonder in how many other industries English is dominant?

Makes you wonder exactly what these hiring managers are thinking, when they hire people that can't consult the support manual for a given aircraft.  Who interviewed this person and gave a yes/no for a hiring decision?  I smell liability there.

[HankB]

Makes you wonder exactly what these hiring managers are thinking, when they hire people that can't consult the support manual for a given aircraft. 

They're thinking about this quarter's bottom line.

Period.

(Also - notice the hiring managers probably aren't the ones signing off on the work.)

[AZRedhawk44]

They're thinking about this quarter's bottom line.

Period.

(Also - notice the hiring managers probably aren't the ones signing off on the work.)

No, but they're also not qualified to do a skills assessment portion of an interview.  That would be the shop supervisor, who has the A&P certification (hopefully).

So, the shop supervisor gets the candidates that are initially vetted by the HR weasels.  He does his interview and skills assessment.  Evidently no one feels comfortable consulting the manual during a skills assessment portion of an interview.  Illiteracy falls through the cracks or is deliberately overlooked.

[Waitone]

Where's the problem.  US air carriers routinely send airframes to foreign countries for repair and overhaul.  If we have a problem in Tejas we have a really big problem in SA.

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

are aircraft dropping like flies?  in real life i mean

[K Frame]

So, the aircraft are dropping like flies because the mechanics don't speak or read English?

So, we've had what, 80?, 90? mechanics not speaking English crashes in the last what, 3 days?

Was the plane that crashed in Charlotte in fact serviced by a mechanic who couldn't speak or read English?
 

Your headline doesn't hold up to even the most basic scruitny.

[MechAg94]

If those cables were hooked up wrong in Texas, how did the plane make it to North Carolina without anyone noticing? 

[RocketMan]

If those cables were hooked up wrong in Texas, how did the plane make it to North Caroline without anyone noticing? 

The repairs on that plane were done at Charlotte by a group of illegal immigrants working for a repair center. There were eight of them, if I remember the news story correctly. 
I passed through that airport a year or so after that event.  It was still news, and I read about it using the free wifi in the airport.

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

close
GREENSBORO -- The investigation at TIMCO marks the second time in as many years a
negative spotlight is shining on a Florida contractor that allegedly put illegal immigrants into
the aircraft-maintenance plant in western Greensboro.
The labor contractor, Structural Modification and Repair Technicians or S.M.A.R.T., also
figured in the January 2003 crash at Charlotte of US Airways Express Flight 5481, which killed
all 21 aboard.
A post-crash inquiry by the National Transportation Safety Board partly attributed the fatal
accident to a S.M.A.R.T. mechanic-in-training who improperly adjusted controls.
In the TIMCO investigation, one of S.M.A.R.T.'s officials, Jorge Ruiz-Alonso, also known as
Jorge Ruiz or George Ruiz, is charged with giving fake documents to an illegal immigrant in
October 2000 so the foreigner could work in the TIMCO facility as a S.M.A.R.T. employee.
Five of the 24 people arrested March 8 at TIMCO on immigration charges, including Ruiz-
Alonso, were S.M.A.R.T. workers, said Brian Peterson, vice president of the Edgewater, Fla.,
company.
The arrests two weeks ago were part of the federal government's "Operation Tarmac," an effort
to get illegal immigrants out of such security-sensitive settings as airports, nuclear power plants
and other utilities.
Peterson said the two incidents in North Carolina since 2003 are not indicative of S.M.A.R.T.'s
general character nor its skill in providing temporary aviation workers.
"We've been in business for over 15 years and have provided probably a million man-hours (of
maintenance) without an incident," Peterson said.
But TIMCO has severed its seven-year relationship with the company because of the criminal
allegations involving Ruiz-Alonso, said Dave Latimer, a TIMCO vice president.
"We just can't have that in our business," Latimer said, adding that it would take many reforms
for S.M.A.R.T. to be reinstated.
"They're certainly out for now," Latimer said, noting the Florida company was discharged last
week when allegations emerged against Ruiz-Alonso. "Never say never, but I would not see it
(reinstatement) happening any time soon."
Another six of the 24 alleged illegal immigrants were on TIMCO's own payroll as permanent
workers.
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[RocketMan]

I think that's the one, C&SD.  Thanks.

[seeker_two]

Considering that the flies in Texas lately have resisted all my efforts to knock them from my home's airspace (swatter, spray, and strips), I'd consider picking a better metaphor.... 

[Sindawe]

Your headline doesn't hold up to even the most basic scruitny.

*SIGH*  I would appear that some are unaware of a particular literary device.

No, aircraft are not yet falling from the skies like ex-house flies.  But there does appear to indications (and maybe it is just happenstance) of systemic problems in the air travel industry.  We are all aware of the tales of the TSA for example; then there is the commuter flight crash in Buffalo several months back where it was learned that the pilot had repeated issues passing his certifications on the aircraft.  Not a week later, one of the same airlines ships lost one of its wheels.

Of course, I may just be overly sensative to this sort of issue right now, since in a few days I'll be packed into a narrow metal tube and find myself and some of my immedeate family 10s of thousands of feet in the air & moving at speeds no sane person would want to be moving while in an atmosphere.   Trusting my well being and life to the ability of some faceless person who may or may not know who to read the technical documents of the vessel I'll be riding in, trusting in the skills (or lack there of) of the person charged with guiding the contraption I'll find myself in.

[MechAg94]

Considering that the flies in Texas lately have resisted all my efforts to knock them from my home's airspace (swatter, spray, and strips), I'd consider picking a better metaphor.... 

I would suggest Mosquitoes, but they just keep coming back no matter how many you kill.

Is Mosquitoes spelled Mosquitos or Mosquitoes?  Will I be laughed at in the media for 4 years if I don't know?

[bedlamite]

Considering that the flies in Texas lately have resisted all my efforts to knock them from my home's airspace (swatter, spray, and strips), I'd consider picking a better metaphor.... 

Try one of these

[Jamisjockey]

The problem ain't the FAA.  It's companies that skirt the rules by hiring a dozen communication-challenged workers and one A&P.

Brad

Not entirely true.  The same peoples that rise to the top in the FAA, especially in Safety, are often given very nice jobs in the aviation industry upon retirement.  IMHO it's a bit of the Fox gaurding the Henhouse syndrome.

[Werewolf]

Considering that the flies in Texas lately have resisted all my efforts to knock them from my home's airspace (swatter, spray, and strips), I'd consider picking a better metaphor.... 

Get a spider. Almost any web building species will do - well - except a black widow or brown recluse of course.

Put it in a high, relatively out of sight corner in your kitchen. In a week you'll barely remember what a fly looks like and you'll forget the spider is even there.

[Marnoot]

Get a spider. Almost any web building species will do - well - except a black widow or brown recluse of course.

Put it in a high, relatively out of sight corner in your kitchen. In a week you'll barely remember what a fly looks like and you'll forget the spider is even there.

I wish I was more OK with spiders so I could do that... little spiders don't bother me, but spiders over a certain size present inside my house elicit a "KILL IT! KILL IT WITH FIRE!!" reaction. Spiders of any size outside the house elicit nothing more than a "Hh look, a big spider. Hope he eats the pesky bugs."

We had a rash of Giant House Spiders last year. I think they had come about from feeding on the cockroach infestation the previous residents brought with them (said cockroach infestation was resolved prior to us moving in by slashing, destroying, and pillaging their homes, then deploying chemical measures).

[Strings]

>but spiders over a certain size present inside my house elicit a "KILL IT! KILL IT WITH FIRE!!" reaction<

Ok... who wants to go in on buying Marnoot one of those South American bird spiders? 

[makattak]

>but spiders over a certain size present inside my house elicit a "KILL IT! KILL IT WITH FIRE!!" reaction<

Ok... who wants to go in on buying Marnoot one of those South American bird spiders? 

This one?


"The Goliath Bird Eating Spider is one of the 300 species of tarantula living around the world. It is also the largest spider in the world with a legspan of 10 inches weighing more than 6 ounces.

The Goliath Bird Eating Spider feeds on frogs, small snakes, beetles, lizards, and even bats. Occasionally, these spiders will take young birds from the nest giving them their name "bird eater". The goliath sneaks up on its prey and pounces on it injecting it with poison from its venomous fangs.

Theraphosa blondi lives in the coastal rainforest regions of South America: Surinam, Guyana, and French Guiana.

The goliath is a very aggressive spider and it has many defense mechanisms for protecting itself. When threatened the goliath, like other tarantulas, has the ability to hiss loudly by rubbing the bristles on its legs together, called stridulation. They also can propel a cloud of hairs off their body at their attacker. These hairs are barbed an cause severe discomfort and irritation."

[Strings]

That's the one! I think that would make a nice birthday present for Marnoot!

Why yes, I AM evil, thanks!

[grampster]

Thank you for the picture.  The skin on my body has completely rearranged itself.