askworldtraveler

I was wondering if anyone could fill in the details on a Schedule A maintenance that was performed on the AA A300 yesterday. Would the Engines have been dropped for this check -?

"Carty said the last maintenance "A-check" on the plane was performed Sunday. A heavier maintenance check was done October 3, and the jet's last major overhaul was in December 1999. Another overhaul was scheduled for July 2002."
Thank you ....


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Askworldtraveler, EXP,4 million AA miles+++Hilton Gold (thanks to EXP)

wideman

Not going to answer your question, because I don't have the specifics of the A, B, & C checks. (Though, compared to your car maintenance, A is sort of analogous to oil & filter change; B is a 50,000 mile check-up, and C is where they tear everything down and rebuild everything).

A potentially more interesting datum is the engine-time stats. The engines are overhauled at 10,000 hours. One engine had about 700 hours since its most recent overhaul, but the other engine had about 9,700 hours.

dranz

> and C [check]is where they tear everything
> down and rebuild everything).

uh, no.

The your description describes a D-check.

-doug

Beckles

Hadn't the US 767 that lost an engine in PHL a year or so ago just had one of these checks. For those not familiar with it, the plane had completed some maintenance and they were testing the engine and they had a catastrophic failure of the engine, very similar to what it appears happened to this A300. That US 767 was a total write off ...

(PS ~ 4000!)

cordelli

The CEO was part of a press conference on the way home, he called it a daily check, then corrected himself to say it's a more through daily check. Not really sure what that means.

WVFM

This is what BA has on their website regarding fleet maintenance (unfortunately they don't use the words A/B/C/D Check but it gives you an idea)


FLEET MAINTENANCE

British Airways places paramount importance on safety. Being "Safe and Secure" is the company's number one value. The following is a brief summary of the maintenance cycle for a typical longhaul aircraft in the fleet, eg: Boeing 747-400.


Transit check
When and who: Before each flight: two engineers.
What: Exterior check of aircraft and engines for damage and leakage, including specific checks on items such as brake and tyre wear

Ramp 1 check
When and who: Daily: four engineers
What: Transit check, plus checks on engine oil levels, tyre pressures, aircraft external lighting and cabin emergency equipment, engine health monitoring system and assessment of technical log entries.

Ramp 2 check
When and who: Every 190 flying hours: four engineers
What: Transit and Ramp 1 check, plus checks on auxiliary power unit and component oil levels, engine component oil levels, cabin interior condition and windows

Ramp 3 check
When and who: Every 540 flying hours: six engineers
What: Transit, Ramp 1 and 2 check, plus replacement of hydraulic systems filters, checks on cockpit and cabin seats and attachments, (sterilisation of the water system and detailed) inspections (of system filters) and lubrication of flaps and flying controls. More detailed inspections of above checks carried out including checks of avionic systems. Checks on standby power systems. (Batteries changed.)

Service Check 1
When and who: Every three months, carried out at Heathrow or Gatwick (during overnight stopovers at maintenance locations): 40 engineers per shift.
What: All the above plus partial strip down of structure and engines for detailed inspections, replacement of worn components and soiled and damaged cabin equipment and furnishings. Servicing of undercarriage struts. Aircraft batteries changed. This takes around four shifts to complete.

Service Check 2
When and who: Every six months (2,120 flying hours): 40 engineers per shift.
What: All the above plus detailed inspections of specific areas of structure over and above those mentioned, external wash of aircraft, system clarification function checks and intense cleaning of cabin water and waste systems. This takes around three shifts to complete. Detailed inspections of flying controls, structure and engines. Fluid levels drained and refilled in major mechanical components. Aircraft washed. Avionic systems integrated checks. Cabin conditions assessed and repaired in depth. This takes around five shifts to complete.

Inter Check 1
When and who: Every two years (6,360 flying hours): 160 engineers
What: Detailed inspection and repair of aircraft structure, engines, components, systems and cabin, including operating mechanisms, flight controls and structural tolerances. Takes between seven and eight days.

Inter Check 2
When and who: Every four years (12,720 flying hours): 160 engineers
What: All the above, plus additional system function checks. Takes between eight and nine days.

Major check
When and who: Eight years to the first Major, thereafter every five years (24,000 flying hours, or every five years, if this is sooner) : 180 engineers
What: Most intensive inspection, taking between 20 and 25 days. Involves major structural inspections including attention to corrosion. Aircraft is virtually dismantled, repaired and rebuilt as required, with systems and parts tested and repaired or replaced as necessary. Corrosion prevention and control tasks carried out.

Gaucho100K

Isnt it strange for an aircraft to have to engines with uneven hours of usage?

CrazyOne

I wouldn't think it strange at a major airline. They likely have spare engines that get swapped out at times in order to do service on other ones. Sometimes problems occur before the scheduled maintenance, and that would get a given plane back in service faster than having to service the particular engine that was on the plane at that time.

Vulcan

Gaucho:
Airlines swap engines in and out constantly. When one needs to be pulled for a check, they don't usually have the luxury of picking one to replace it with similar time on it as the one they leave on the plane. While it might be unusual to have such a disparity, from what I have read its not uncommon.

artboy

I would almost think of it as a safety advantage. It seems better to have one engine with 9,500 hours and a second with 1,000 hours, rather than both of them with 9,000+.

I'm sure they have pretty big safety tolerances built into the flying hours between overhauls, but nonetheless, its got to be a lot less likely they would both have problems on the same flight if they have different service lives.

robb

Does anyone have anything specific on A-check frequency?

I was under the impression that it was a very frequent thing, perhaps even daily, but wasn't sure.

Does anyone know if the flight had flown since the maintenance?

FWAAA

From the fleet statistics page on http://www.amrcorp.com/corpinfo.htm

A-checks are performed approximately every week and require 10-20 man hours to complete.

Although the summary is not specific about what is performed during an A-check, routine engine removal is unlikely (itself a fairly time-consuming operation).

The page mentions that engines are constantly monitored and are not simply overhauled according to a maintenance schedule, so engine swapping occurs when needed, not just when the calendar says so.

The AMR website contains some interesting details about interior configuration not shown on aa.com's fleet pages, among other interesting info.

duxfan

i just hope this doesn't turn out like that COEXP crash outside houston years ago where they somehow forgot to finish reattaching the tail assembly. accidents happen, but preventable accidents are the saddest.

Jx

Many reports suggest that the engine that failed/fell off was the one with less than 1000 hrs after the latest overhaul.

FlyAAway

From AMRCorp website (under Fleet Statistics):

American Airlines Aircraft Maintenance Procedures

American Airlines is proud of its maintenance record, procedures and employees. The airline
performs 11 man-hours of maintenance for every one hour of flight time on its aircraft. The time
frame for maintenance procedures is based on a combination of the number of hours the aircraft
flies, the number of take-offs and landings (referred to as "cycles") it makes, plus the age of the
aircraft. Here is a brief explanation of American’s maintenance check procedures:

"PS" Daily Checks

Every aircraft is checked every day in its "PS" (Periodic Service) check. The aircraft is visually
inspected and its maintenance log book is checked for entries and maintenance needs. The "PS"
check can be performed overnight or during downtime during the flight day. It averages
approximately two man-hours.

"A" Checks

The "A" check is more detailed than the "PS" check. "A" checks are performed roughly once a
week (approximately 60 flight hours). The "A" check is performed at one of 40 stations around
American’s system. It averages 10 - 20 man-hours.

"B" Checks

The "B" check is an even more thorough maintenance check. The "B" check is done
approximately once a month (roughly 300 - 500 flight hours). Besides specific service performed on
the aircraft, a detailed series of systems and operational checks are performed. American always
performs "B" checks inside one of its hangars at seven different cities around its system. A "B"
check requires approximately 100 man-hours on narrowbody aircraft (those with only one aisle)
and approximately 200 - 300 man-hours on widebody aircraft (those with two aisles).

"C" Checks

The "C" check is the most thorough type of maintenance work performed by American. The
airframe — virtually the entire aircraft — goes through an exhaustive series of checks, inspections
and overhaul work. It is performed at either of American’s heavy maintenance and engineering
centers in

Tulsa, Oklahoma or the Alliance Maintenance Facility in Fort Worth, Texas. There are different
levels of "C" checks depending on the type of aircraft. These include:

Narrowbody "C" Checks

American does two types of "C" checks on its narrowbody planes. The first is a "Light C" check,
which occurs approximately once a year. It requires approximately 2,100 man-hours and three
days to accomplish. Every fourth "Light C" check becomes a "Heavy C" check. This check
requires 20,000 - 30,000 man-hours and takes from three to five weeks to accomplish.

Widebody "C" Checks

Because of the complexity of widebody aircraft, all "C" checks are "Heavy C" checks. The
complete airframe inspection and service is done every 15 - 18 months. It takes approximately
10,000 man-hours and from two to four weeks to accomplish a widebody "C" check.

Jet Engine Overhauls

Modern jet engines are among the most reliable devices in aviation. American does not replace
and overhaul jet engines at a specific number of hours. Instead, American uses a 24-hour-a-day
"condition monitoring" process that scientifically tracks the condition of every engine on every
aircraft. Besides visual inspection, technicians monitor the internal condition of every engine, using
such procedures as boroscope inspections and oil sample spectographs. The goal is to replace
and overhaul an engine before a problem can occur. Engine overhauls are performed at the Tulsa
and Alliance-Fort Worth Maintenance and Engineering facilities. The engine replacement is usually
performed at one of the six "B" check hangar locations around the country