An Australian airline operator came into CDG(Paris, France) for an unscheduled refueling stop. The reason became soon apparent to the ground crew: The fan on the number 3 engine didn't look so good. That had apparently been no problem for the tough guys back in Australia: Get yourself some sturdy straps and wrap them around fan blades and the structures behind, thus stopping any windmilling and associated uncomfortable vibration caused by the suboptimal fan. Off you go into the wild blue yonder with another revenue-making flight! If you get low on fuel, just set it down on at the closest airport, CDG in this case.
But that's when the problem started: Those French are so picky that they grounded the aircraft! After that, the airline operator had to raise some money (took about 10 days) to get the engine changed. The repair contractor also decided to do some inspection work on the other engines because none of them looked all that great anymore. The result: A total of 3 engines were finally changed on this airplane before it was allowed to fly again.

Hey, who wants to fly in Austrlia? Keep in mind: this plane was carrying 300-400 people. Can't believe these boneheads really DID this. They wrapped cargo straps on fan blades to keep them from vibrating.

If some of the regulars could advise how to attach a photo I will.....you would not believe this......I bet the passengers didn't even get any miles !!

Please stop this nonsense!

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MRKEY