Nothing to Crow About

A Chinese airline pilot requested permission and landed at Frankfurt for an unscheduled refuelling stop. The reason soon became apparent to the ground crew.

The No. 3 engine had been shutdown previously because of excessive vibration, and because it didn't look too good. But this, apparently, had presented no problem for the tough guys back in China: they took some sturdy straps and wrapped them around two of the fan blades and the structures behind. That stopped any unwanted windmilling (engine spinning by itself due to airflow passing through the fan blades during flight) and the associated uncomfortable vibration caused by the suboptimal fan. (For anybody who is not familiar with a jet engine, a jet fan blade should be perfectly smooth.)

Note that the straps are seat belts -- how resourceful! After making their "repairs", the Chinese flew off across Europe on another revenue-making flight, with only three engines! The resulting increased fuel consumption meant that they got a bit low on fuel, so they just set the aircraft down at nearest airport for a quick refill.

That's when their problems started: The Germans, who are kind of picky and strict about these 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 chunk of money to get the first engine replaced (took about 10 days).

The repair contractor decided to do some impromptu inspection work on the other engines, none of which looked all that great either. The result: a total of three engines were eventually changed on this aircraft before it was permitted to fly again.

It only goes to show how much value they place on human lives. You might want to think twice before you fly on a Chinese Airline...

I think their catch phrase is "Now, Everyone Can Fry...."

# posted by Cocka Doodle @ 1:53 PM