Chinese Airliner Servicing
| Chinese Jet Engine maintenance 101
A pilot for an unnamed Chinese carrier requested permission and landed recently at FRA ( Frankfurt, Germany ) for an unscheduled refuelling stop. The reason soon became apparent to the ground crew: The Number 3 engine had been shut down previously because of excessive vibration and because it didn't look too good (a slight understatement). It had apparently been no problem for the tough guys on the ground back in China; as they took some sturdy straps and wrapped them around two of the fan blades and the structures behind, thus stopping any unwanted wind-milling (engine spinning by itself due to airflow passing thru the blades during flight) and associated uncomfortable vibration caused by the sub optimal fan.
Note that the straps are seat-belts ....how resourceful!
After making the "repairs", off they went into the wild blue yonder with another revenue-making flight on only three engines! With the increased fuel consumption, they got a bit low on fuel, and just set it down at the closest airport (FRA) for a quick refill. That's when their problems started.
The Germans, who are kind of picky about this aero-safety stuff, inspected the malfunctioning engine and immediately grounded the aircraft. (Besides the seat-belts, notice the appalling condition of the fan blades.) The airline operator had to send a sizeable chunk of money to get the first engine replaced (took about 10 days). The repair contractor decided to also do some impromptu inspection work on the other engines, none of which looked all that great either. The result: a total of 3 engines were eventually changed on this plane before it was permitted to fly again.
And some people worry about Chinese-made toys with lead paint?!
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