Base inspection

Whenever it is time for a base inspection by the FAA, you sure would want your ducks in a row. Or chickens, in this case. And of course, you would want your chickens get rid of anything incriminating.

My own experience in FAA base inspections has been that the FAA was always very picky about open maintenance write-ups and especially “unofficially deferring” maintenance (as in just not officially grounding the aircraft) until it was time for the 100-hour inspection. And even though I am not directly dealing with these kinds of inspections anymore, I am sure the FAA has maintained their “pickiness”. When Chuck is your pilot, there probably are all kinds of write-ups every day.

I can tell you about my new career, that the airlines take this very seriously. At my airline, everything is electronic, and as soon as you write up a maintenance issue, everyone’s screen turns red and the aircraft is grounded until the mechanics return it back to service. It has been a breath of fresh air for me actually after having worked for a few shady operations where very little ever got fixed. The only thing that bugs me slightly about the structure is that, as an A&P mechanic, I often know what the problem is and how I’d fix it in minutes, yet I have to go “through the system” which takes a lot longer. But I try not to let that get to me anymore and I realize that the process was not created for captains who also happen to be mechanics. And I’m pretty sure the system had to be created in the first place because of guys like Chuck or Hans…

Mike

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