All Aircraft: Preventive Maintenance, the Key to Success

Photo by Charles Rosemond

 

Black Hawks, Apaches, Chinooks, UASs and Lakotas cost millions of dollars. Helicopter near misses, mishaps and accidents—most of which can be avoided—come down to attention to detail. 
        
You can be certain that if you don’t follow the maintenance procedures in the work packages completely, the result will not be good and could even be fatal. Inspecting for foreign object debris (FOD)* should be second nature. When maintenance is completed on a helicopter, your work should be technically inspected by senior mechanics. And maintenance test pilots must verify significant maintenance actions before clearing aircraft for flight.
 
These are just some of the near miss lessons learned and analyzed in the May 2020 issue of Flightfax found HERE. Pay particular attention to incidents 23404, 23957, 24197 and 24311. The common theme is that a lack of attention to detail leads to mistakes.
 
Make reading Flightfax and PS Magazine a routine part of your crew’s commitment to preventive maintenance.

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*NOTE: When it comes to FOD, anything left inside an aircraft or on the flight line is considered foreign object debris (FOD) and if you don’t perform FOD walks and inspections, that debris can cause foreign object damage (FOD) to your aircraft. For more information on FOD control, click HERE.