Recent news pointed toward maintenance staff as the reason for the fan cowl doors departing the aircraft on takeoff. The report said, "Subsequent investigation revealed that the fan cowl doors on both engines were left unlatched during maintenance and this was not identified prior to aircraft departure." The report goes on to say the aircraft had undergone scheduled maintenance overnight which required opening the fan cowl doors on both engines to check oil levels. The report did not cite specific factors that led to this event, but it does clearly indicate some type of maintenance error.
So what happened here? Did the same technician service both engines and fail to secure the doors on both engines? Was this a case of work interruption and failure to follow-up; failure to follow procedures; worker fatigue; or other human factors (the work apparently took place during the night)? I’m sure the investigation uncovered a chain of events which typically create these unfortunate incidents.
A couple other interesting points mentioned that caught my attention were the procedures for maintenance checks include crouching down to see that the fan cowl doors are closed and latched. Of course they do and this shouldn’t even be a factor. Technicians are always crouching to check areas of the airplane not easily visible. It’s part of the job. Another interesting statement, the report said that last July Airbus said there had been 32 reported fan cowl door detachment events - 80 percent of which occurred during take-off. It did not say the timeframe for these 32 events.
Hmm … is this a maintenance-unfriendly design hiding the fact the latches may not be secure during a quick glance? Or was it complacency by all involved, including the pilot whom I assume accomplished a preflight walk around of the aircraft that morning. Either way it casts yet another bad light on … in this case the maintenance personnel involved. Be vigilant out there.
