Told a young apprentice to check the torque on a control cable and he just stared at me

Last Wednesday at the hangar in Nashville, this kid fresh out of school looked me dead in the eye and said "why bother, it's not like it's gonna fall off." I stood there holding the torque wrench for a good 10 seconds before I could even speak. Made him redo every single fastener on that aileron while I watched. Has anyone else run into new guys who just don't get why the little stuff matters?

2 comments

2 Comments

morganj8116d ago

Three months ago I told a junior designer to check the bleed air valve torque on a 737 and he asked if he could just "eyeball it" instead... I laughed so hard I almost dropped my coffee. Then I made him watch a training video about the Aeroflot 593 crash where a loose bolt caused the whole rudder to lock up. He turned pale and never questioned me again. We all have those moments where we realize the kid just doesn't have the muscle memory for why attention to detail matters yet. Honestly I'm still learning that lesson myself - last week I almost shipped a logo with the kerning all jacked up because I was rushing.

alicea2616d ago

And that Aeroflot video is such a wakeup call, it makes you realize how one tiny thing can go so wrong. I feel the pain on the kerning too, rushed work is always a gamble.