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“We prevent an unsafe flight”
By Secretary Europe
Published: Jun 29, 2006
If an Aircraft is stopped by an Aircraft Engineer, Managers of Airlines call this........“The aircraft is Grounded”, Engineers State: We don’t ground an Aircraft, “We prevent an unsafe flight” !!!!
Aircraft Engineers in the Netherlands fear being prosecuted when just doing their job.
| This happened to a Dutch Licensed Maintenance Engineer after an aircraft went off the runway when landing and became “total Loss.” The man was earmarked by the police and the Ministry of Justice still see him as suspect. With a large banner “Engineers don’t ground an Aircraft,
“They prevent an unsafe flight”. on the wall of the meeting room, a large group of Dutch Licensed Aircraft Engineers get together and were informed by the Lawyer of the Dutch NVLT
(a union of Dutch Aircraft Technicians) about their legal rights and obligations according to present Law. |  |
It became apparent that there is a complex set of laws and regulations they have to operate in. Not everybody is always aware of the possible implications of his “signature” after performing maintenance. Of course “Safety First” is basic for our engineers but with present continuous pressure from industry, suffering already for several years from heavy losses, an aircraft grounded (beeing prevented of an unsafe flight) costs a lot of money. This pressure is felt by the engineers on the line.
Except for the pilot, the engineers are the last persons to decide if the aircraft can continue its flight or not. Engineers feel the pressure from airlines, if they refuse to “sign off” for the “release to Service” after maintenance is done.
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 | Their concerns were increased due to the fact that an engineer, after having performed the last pre flight check on an aircraft, that later on during landing, went of the runway due to the fact that a bird strike had damage the control cables of the nose gear steering mechanism. And the engineer was being questioned as suspect. This whole process has taken more the 19 month now, and all the time the Sword of Damocles is hanging over his head. The consequences of being convicted are high, since with today’s security measures, for instance a simple thing as an airport pass (Necessary to work on an airport nowadays) can become impossible. Being convicted for negligence can cost you Max 2 years imprisonment. |
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