In any case, it looks like the yoke's on you, OP.

;)

Most likely using language that everyone understands. Most people would have no clue what a sidestick is.

Ya, I could just imagine what people would think if they were told the joystick was broken! :D

There wouldn't be a happy landing then :p

Well, at the very least, I'd hope the announcement would refer to just, "the joystick", implying the plane's joystick, as opposed to the Captain's joystick! :eek:

Only if the MX lasts more than 4 hours :D

Well, CGNC is on his way...http://pasteboard.co/kxCfWAGA.png

'Part not available' would be one thing. However 'part doesn't fit'? Doesn't this imply that someone tried to fit the wrong part? And that they thought it might fit?

That doesn't inspire confidence. Haven't there been a number of 'incidents' caused by incorrect parts being fitted? E.g. the pilot who ended up outside the cabin when a window blew out because of incorrect bolts being used on the window?

Being delayed due to a part not fitting isn't that much of a problem. But, what if the part is wrong but close enough to 'fit' but be a safety risk?

Even in aviation there's certain tolerances for a part. Part A might be at one extreme of tolerance and the hole in part b at the opposite extreme.

If there's so much manufacturing tolerance that the parts aren't interchangeable, then that doesn't inspire confidence either. The bolts on British Airways Flight 5390 showed how important an exact fit is.

Those were the wrong bolts. Not the same part within approved tolerance.

Also sometimes different sized parts can be used depending on the system. Airbus may have had a different sidestick at one point and it now uses another, but requires a different connecting part then what is installed and thus doesn't fit without changing the connecting part. Think of it like an electric adapter. Same cord and same electric system. However you may need an adapter in between to change the interface r so you can plug in.

Yes, but the only difference between the bolts was a very small difference in size. They were close enough so that they fit in the appropriate holes without it being obvious that they were the incorrect bolts.

If manufacturing tolerances, approved or not, were so wide that parts actually don't fit where they should do, then that seems to be wide enough for safety problems. Clearly a yoke is different from bolts used to attach a windshield. But even so, being that far out due to manufacturing tolerances would be even more worrying for me than someone bringing the wrong part and trying to fit it as a simple maintenance/repair error.

Hey, at the very least EU261 right :)

I'm pretty sure it's been posted before that, EU261 only applies to flights departing the EU.

It implies that an Airbus side-stick was retrieved but turned out to be the wrong part number.