AMTonline Blogs

One of my coworkers is afraid of flying. His fear of flying is deep-rooted and I don’t want to embarrass him, so I’ll only mention that his initials are Bob Graf.

Anyway, I now have reason to believe that Bob is at a greater risk by sitting at his desk or sleeping in his bed than he is on an aircraft. There have been several cases in the news of large chunks of ice falling from the sky. Although scientists and federal investigators are investigating these incidents, they don’t have a definite cause yet.

The San Francisco Chronicle SFGate.com reports that for the second time in a week, California was the victim of an aerial ice assault. The latest one was last Thursday when a chunk of ice the size of a microwave oven fell out of a cloudless sky into a Loma Linda recreation center. It left a hole about 2 1/2 feet wide and fragmented into several white ice chunks, one the size of a bowling ball. In another incident, an ice chunk fell into a field in Oakland, carving out a two foot wide crater. Luckily, neither incident resulted in an injury.

These ice incidents seem to be creating a bit of controversy. Some attribute them to aircraft. Maybe leaks in the servicing ports or chunks of ice missed by de-icing equipment. Others blame global warming on the phenomenon, thinking greater difference in atmospheric temperatures are creating super hail formation in otherwise clear skies.

You can read the San Francisco Chronicle article by clicking here . In addition, I found an interesting article from the CAA discussing “icefalls.” The agency says that around 37 cases are reported each year in the U.K. The agency says icefall incidents are usually located within approach paths to major airports, and are attributed to ice forming on the fuselage of aircraft from either leaks or atmospheric conditions and falling off as the aircraft descends to warmer air. You can view a PDF of the CAA article by clicking here .

I tend to believe that aircraft are responsible for the ice versus the super hail theory. So Bob can feel just a little safer on our flight tomorrow knowing that our plane won’t come down due to a microwave-size chunk of ice caused by global warming busting through the fuselage.

Thanks for reading.

Joe Escobar

Today, I pulled out my trusty FAA Form 8610-1 Mechanic’s Application for Inspection Authorization. I wanted to go ahead and start filling it out in anticipation of our Wisconsin IA seminar in less than a month.

There is one section on the form that really bugs me. It is a mistake on the form that was pointed out to me by a retired FAA inspector a few years back. I had really never paid attention to it, but the incorrect information is printed on the form in black and white, and it bugs me, especially considering it is an FAA form.

The mistake is in block 3. It says:

“MAILING ADDRESS (Number, street, city, State/County, Zip Code) (Place at which you desire to receive Airworthiness Directives, etc.)

Has anyone else noticed the mistake? Apparently the FAA has been OK with it since February 1978.

Thanks for reading. I look forward to your feedback.

 Joe Escobar

Happy New Year to everyone! I spent the Christmas/New Years break visiting my wife’s family in Alabama, but I am back in the Wisconsin office tapping away on my computer keyboard. 

Try as much as I do to write positive-themed postings on my blog, I just can’t help but vent every now and then. This posting is one of those times.

Yesterday, I was on a flight from Chicago to D.C. I had planned to catch up on a little work on the flight, and had my laptop ready to go. But low and behold, right after takeoff, the lady in front of me reclined her seat all the way back. Now instead of a computer screen in my view, I had the top of her head.

Maybe back in the days when passengers had more legroom between seats, reclining seats were a nice amenity. But with today’s trend to squeeze seats as close together as possible, reclining seats have lost their practicality. Whenever the passenger in front of you reclines his or her seat, you are left with very little room. Getting up to go to the restroom is difficult. And try retrieving something you stored under the seat.

I think it’s time for airlines to do away with reclining seats in coach/economy. They have gone from being a nice amenity to being a nuisance. The airlines stopped serving us food. Some did away with blankets and pillows. Why not make everyone who wants to sleep do with the seat upright? Heck, this could even lead to money savings. After all, that would mean no more broken reclining mechanisms to repair.

Do you also feel it is time to retire reclining seats?

Joe Escobar