Expensive FOD
According to the Air Force Times, mechanics working on an F-35 last year misplaced a flashlight while working on an engine.
The item — a handheld flashlight — was sucked into the engine’s air intake during a maintenance ground run on the night of March 15, Air & Space Forces Magazine first reported. The aircraft belonged to the 56th Fighter Wing.
During an idling procedure, a team of three maintainers started the engine without issue before going through typical checks, including idling for five minutes to monitor for fuel leaks.
It wasn’t until the airmen turned off the engine that anything seemed amiss. During the shutdown, one maintainer noted “abnormal noises.” None of the airmen were injured.
One of the maintainers carried out a tool inventory check after installing a “metering plug into an engine fuel line,” the investigation noted. The process took place before another maintainer used the flashlight to carry out a “Before Operations Servicing” inspection, the report said.
Abnormal noises can be pricey.
Ultimately, the mishap damaged the aircraft’s second stage rotor, third stage rotor, fifth stage rotor, sixth stage rotor, fuel nozzle, bypass duct, high pressure compressor, high pressure turbine and fan inlet variable vane, the report found.
In total, the estimated cost of damages associated with the accident came in at $3,933,106.
Let’s see, if they dock all three of them $500/month, this should only take them 218 years to to pay it off. To think we have been spending kazillions on air defense systems for the duck-hunters when we should have just been issuing them Streamlights.
Category: Air Force
So…..the first mechanic with the toolbox did a FOD check and accounted for all his tools. Ok, so far, so good.
Then a SECOND mechanic “borrowed” (with permission? without permission?) a flashlight from the first mechanic’s toolbox and left it in the jet’s engine.
Depending on additional details, so far I’m not seeing the first mechanic being at fault. So far.
Sort of, not really.
You are supposed to keep track of your own tools to avoid this very thing from happening. Because if some numb nuts does exactly this, The result can be not only expensive but catastrophic. Aircraft mechanics tend to be OCD about their tools and everything else. Unike wheeled mechanics, who lose tools all the time; a tool is never lost in aviation, it is only missing. Missing is very bad.
We didn’t lose tools all the time; we were issued low quality tools that didn’t last. Our tool boxes were larger because we worked on so many different vehicles. An Airman Basic aircraft mechanic could work on C-5 engines and thirty years later retire as a CMSGT working on C-5 engines. A USAF vehicle mechanic could start the day working on a crawler tractor engine and end the day working on dump truck brakes. I have heard vehicle mechanics are being issued better tools than I was; I can only hope so.
If a tool is worn out it is supposed to be turned in for replacement.
I was assigned to a unit where our maintenance companies were missing nearly 80% of their hand tools. The brigade commander decided to back a semi from Sears up to the maintenance bays and buy roughly $3M in tools to get them to 100%. This was back when Craftsman was a decent quality hand tool. Yet, somehow 2 years later they were down to a 60% fill. Your guys might have been different but I can’t buy that they have a 20% annual wear out.
We had a contract with Snap-On years ago. Not sure where the calendars went..
At the time we couldn’t get Craftsman nor Snap-on because they were large businesses. The made in the 3rd world tools were our issue. I’m not saying we didn’t suffer from pilferage (we did); I am saying there were too many times we’d bring tools from home to get a job done.
OCD is right!
I saw many QA evaluations with the bullet point;
*Meticulous Attention to Detail
It’s the responsibility of the individual who signed out the CTK (Consolidated Tool Kit) to control the tools. After the tool check, they should have locked the CTK to prevent another mechanic from “borrowing”.
Lock out / tag out.
I know that I put it back in the box…the last time I used it…
Upon further review of the info provided (and morning coffee), CTK inspection should have been accomplished after ALL maintenance actions, to include the final inspection before operations.
Correct.
Great tool control there, fellas.
I was always told don’t tear anything up you can’t eat or take home with you.
Thats one helliVA flashlight commercial, I want one.
Smoke them fools.
Isn’t there a limit on the amount that enlisted can be charged? Like maximum of two months pay (i.e. No Pay Due)! Not sure if that is waiverable for negligence
Nope, no limit. Even in the Army that I grew up in, if gross negligence is proven and found to be legally sufficient, they can charge/collect the entire cost on a prorated basis (even your civilian income tax returns) until you die.
AR 735-5
Para. 13-42.
Not so much.
Can’t speak for the Air Force but with the Army it is unlikely. However, if it is gross negligence than UCMJ isn’t out of the question. Gross is a pretty high standard to meet either way.
An “accountable officer” is normally going to be a commander whose guys lost some stuff, not broke some stuff.
Yep, you’re right. The one case I remember from my time as an S-4 NCO and doing Reports of Survey was from 1986 when a kid from C,1/12 IN purposely said “Fuck This Pig” and tossed his M60 MG under the treads of a passing APC when they were out humping one day on a tank trail at Carson. As far as I know, he may still be paying for that machine gun as he was charged the full price (no depreciation allowed) through garnishment of his Army pay (until the Chapter paperwork went through) and then the remainder was to be recouped through his federal income tax refunds. / s
They were $6000 back in 1993 when a unit I know of lost one. Somewhere in the Blue Ridge Mountains near Blacksburg, VA there is man with the ultimate redneck toy and a secret.
Pro-tip: Don’t sling the M60 nose first over the back of the tailgate of the deuce and half and leave it unsecure when driving around in the mountains. Tends to have poor results.
You are assuming, of course, that the Army always obeys its own regulations. In the real world the only regulation that matters is “Shit rolls downhill”.
JAG would likely disagree if we are talking regulations.
Who needs actual negligence? In my unit in Germany we kept all our TA-50 gear in a duffel bag on top of our wall lockers, as instructed. One guy in my platoon had his duffel bag stolen, and had to pay for the whole thing.
January 1992, SGT D is attending BNCOC at beautiful FT Gordon. He forgets his watch (a $10, green plastic, wind-up Timex) and gets written up by the Commandant for a “security viiolation”. Later that day, as I’m standing at parade rest in front of his desk, he asks me if I have anything to say. I smiled and said “why is an unsecured, cheap plastic watch a security violation, when there’s over $750 in unsecured TA-50 on display over the desk”? He went ballistic. I was removed from the Commandant’s list (well, one of them) but it was absolutely worth it.
Did they recover a flashlight?
Is a flashlight still missing?
details, details.
Probably worried about the wall to wall DEI training
It’s only money honey. Clyde McPhatter & the Drifters 1953 on the Atlantic label
The saxaphone solo at 1:40 is great.
https://youtu.be/N8oNHMNCSjQ
I knew you would like it Beans since your into the same 1950’s vocal group harmony (now called doowopp) groups and songs that I enjoy.
This all could have been avoided if they were provided more DEI training.
They may have shot themselves in the foot with the DEI training here. He probably felt it was inappropriate to ask where the flash light was, you know just in case it was up the other guy’s ass.
Because I can recall getting/ giving the answer when I/ other people were looking for stuff; “If it was up your ass you would know”. Now back then that wasn’t likely to be true; but these days who knows?
In the annals of “$hit happens”, There I was at Ft Carson, with a M60A3, running down the tank trail. My driver reported the master warning light came on, We stopped, and opened the back deck doors to check on the oil levels, low and behold the dipstick was dry. Further investigation revealed that all the engine oil was in the bottom of the hull. I did call for a dragon wagon, when it arrived, the mechanic first got on the tank, he also found no oil on the dip stick and stated that it was my fault the engine died until I told him to take a look along the side of the fuel cell. That absolved me and my crew of fault.
Now, as we got the tank dragged to the bone yard my crew prepped the pack for removal. when it was coming out of the hull, that’s when we all discovered the carnage. one of the jugs blowed out, thrown a rod through the case. Thats just the start of the day. This pack got split and a replacement engine was bolted up. The packs are always ground hopped to insure that everything is good to go. Well, not so much. the ‘new’ engine promptly blew 2 jugs. and another engine was gotten; as the pack was being split, the wind caught the transmission while it was in the air crashing into the M88’s blade a punched a hole into the trans the size on a #10 can. As a result, the BMO just got me a new full up pack. My tank managed to use up about $250,000 of the battalion’s class 9 and class 2/4 budget (mid 1980’s money).
Other than that, fun was had by all.
Almost as much fun as when the SSgt I assigned to the mobile maintenance truck asked me to go with him to fix a vehicle. What he wanted was a witness to back up the claim the truck’s break down was not vehicle maintenance’s fault. We were dispatched to the town land-fill to check on a USAF vehicle that caught fire. Stupid me had to ask what a USAF vehicle was doing at the town dump. What had happened was a refer trailer filled with meat was parked at the commissary loading dock. Some rocket surgeon turned off the reefer unit and the meat baked for two days in the hot Texas sun. To ensure nobody found out about it another rocket surgeon decided to dispose of the meat in the town dump instead of the base dump. At the land-fill an oil line leaked onto the exhaust manifold and the oil smoked like a pesticide sprayer and the driver thought the engine caught on fire. About $25 worth of oil line fixed the problem; but, by then the base and the town heard about the destroyed meat.
Sometimes, when stupid happens it’s best to let it happen and not compound the stupidity by trying to cover it up.
When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade. Just file this event under “Spontaneous Morale BBQ”.
Follow Eric on more tips on how to get a new tank.
There’s a flashlight somewhere in the ceiling of the Intel Corps CSM’s office. How it got there, I do not care to discuss. Hope it doesn’t FOD the intel school.
I don’t know how the A/F does it, but in Naval Aviation, tool accountability is taken very, very seriously…at least two decades ago when I retired…maybe they’re more concerned with proper pronouns these days? At any rate, back then, tool inventories were required to be conducted and double checked (two separative people) at the beginning and end of each shift, before and after each maintenance activity, and before any flight operations or maintenance turns commenced. The inventories were signed for by the person conducting the inventory, the counter check and by the shift or shop supervisor.
Out on the line, a QASO (Quality Assurance/Safety Officer… typically a senior NCO, not a commissioned officer) was present who was responsible for checking tools prior to and during the evolution (among other things). I served in that role for several years. All tools were accounted for before the turn commenced. Any time a maintainer needs to do anything to the aircraft after the turn began, they were required to show their tool pouch or box to the QASO before they approached the aircraft, and then again after they completed their task. If at any time a tool was missing, the bird was shut down and the maintenance aborted until the tool was found. In fact, if a tool went missing at any time, all of the squadron’s aircraft were grounded until the tool was found. The only people who could reauthorize flight operations without the tool being recovered were the Maintenance Officer or Commanding Officer…not something they were eager to do.
I can’t imagine that the Air Force’s procedures are that much different, which means there had to be failures on several levels for this to occur. I expect heads will roll. In the Navy, I can say with pretty good certainty, the heads would include the Maintenance Officer and CO as well, because they are responsible for the “environment” that creates the conditions under which such a massive failure can occur.
Procedures are a great thing, provided everyone follows them every time. There’s always that “aw shit” lurking, however.
Agreed, my point wasn’t that tool related mishaps were impossible in “my” Navy, they could and did occur…my point was only that it required failures at several levels and that consequences at each of those layers would be substantial.
Most incidents are a cascading series of fuckups. You gotta nip it in the bud, prevent that first one. You can’t be afraid to check up on your people, although some might not like it. Tough shit. What ets checked, gets done. It’s not that I don’t trust them, I know they’re human and will make mistakes. That mistake could be expensive or deadly.
Trust, but verify!
Some things require a ‘zero defect’ mentality.
This condition of 100% accountability is achievable and within the scope of the jobs you have outlined.
However, forgoing discipline for fear of reprisals could be a failure point in this equation.
Me? I’m gonna grab some (image) and wait for more.
The key, in my opinion, is the command climate.
If the primary priority of the command is meeting the flight schedule and people were “encouraged” to cut corners to make it happen, it is much more likely for things like this to happen.
If, on the other hand, the priority of the command is following procedures and doing things the “right” way, even if that means not always hitting the marks on flight time and training missions, it is much less likely for issues to occur.
Hence, the MO and CO being held accountable after a mishap for creating the climate in which “bending the rules” is tolerated, or accepted, or even insisted upon.
Interestingly, in my experience, the commands that placed the emphasis on doing things the “right” way tended, over time, to be more efficient at meeting commitments than commands who’s environment encouraged (or demanded) corner cutting.
It goes back to the old adage that there’s never enough time to do the job right, but always enough time to do it over.
Take your time, do it right the first time, and ultimately your performance will be better than if you try to rush and cut corners…both in meeting the flight schedule, and in not blowing up engines or crashing airplanes.
At one base I was assigned to the Wing Commander announced the Wing would stand down when the monthly flight schedule was met. With three tactical fighter squadrons and one tactical training fighter squadron assigned to the base, that was a huge schedule. It happened every month, on the third Saturday the wing would be behind schedule so everyone had to work (I mean everyone, cooks, bakers, and candlestick makers). About midnight on the next to last day of the month the wing would meet the schedule and we’d have the last day of the month off. Well, except for us cooks, bakers, and the candlestick makers who had scheduled work that could not be postponed; we’d have to work. Morale skyrocketed in that wing.
I sense a hint of sarcasm in that last sentence.
If I’m reading the report correctly, the whizzbang PDA handheld checklists are insufficient to the task of completing steps in a logical manner and are complex to the point of absurdity.
So, ‘you get what you pay for’ syndrome. They wanted this system to be complex and got it. Not-a-damn-thing will ever replace the clipboard.
My prescription, get stupid with the checks: Rope off the A/C completely, every one goes thru one common entry point, 100% check by the HMFIC NCO and the maintenance Warrant or OOD gets to watch him.
The NCO and Ooffisur get to sign-off before the blades spin and they get to do it themselves.
4 mil is FOUR MIL. You guys earned the fuckfuck games.
^THIS^ Maybe this should have been posted on the SPoTW Thread?
Clear case of negligence on the part of the maintainer. Hopefully his reenlistment bonus will pay off that Statement of Charges.