rashby

Interesting thing happened today (7/10/05). I checked in for my flight this morning 6:40AM GRR-DTW and found that the flight was delayed for at least 5 hours. I overheard the GA later telling the GRR-MSP crew that they found a hole in the wing of the A320 which was the GRR-DTW flight. I took a look at the window and sure enough there was hole right where the wing attaches to the body of the plane.

Does this happen often? What could have caused this that no one noticed until the ground crew saw it?

RoyalFlush

Don't think so, don't know...

CaveatEmpty

Don't ya just hate it when other kids broke your toys & then tried to hide em ??

In gen-av, the pilot's responsible for inspecting the a/c; when was the last time you saw a heavy pilot do a walk-around ?? They depend on (expect?) the ground-grunts to do that -- as you noted.

If you're describing a location where the leading-edge meets the fuselage, it's not like that would be seen from any window on the a/c. Jetway operator sure isn't looking... New aircrew isn't looking...

Plane likely came in damaged the nite before, in the dark -- nobody looked until daybreak.

Cause: metal-fatigue? FOD strike? Lots of possibilities...

Good thing yours wasn't a pre-dawn departure. ^
/.

DHAST

Caveat's right, but airline pilots (an A320 is not a "heavy") do walk-arounds more often than you think. Also, the wing of an airbus sits very high off of the ground (probably 15 feet or more), so it's not something that you'll "accidentally" see. Combine that with the fact it's dark out at that time of the morning/night when the plane came in, and it wouldn't surprise me that it was over looked.

wldtrvlr

I see the Pilots doing Walk Arounds quite often. When I am looking for it that is. Frequently I am not paying attention, but I would say that more often than not when I am looking out the window at the airport or the plane the pilot is doing a walkaround. Maybe you just don't look for it.

I also don't often look for the catering truck, or the fuel line to fill up the gas tanks, or the ramp workers loading the luggage, however; I have never took off when the plane was unexpectedly not catered, or someone said OOPS! We forgot to get gas, once in awhile my bags don't make it, but I generally have known about it (no bags arrived from in customs for me to re-check) or made an unexpected last minute change to cause it.

About the pre-dawn thing, are you implying that tarmacs/terminals don't have enough lighting? I think whether it is daylight or dark, their are enough lights near the terminal and jetbridge for a pilot or ground crew to see the AC just fine.

You are probably right though that it came in damaged and was not noticed till morning, since it is the pilot that takes the plane out that has to do the walk around, not the one that brings it in. I think that would be odd to see a pilot go and look around the plane after it lands.

I think it is a big jump from a passenger not seeing some safety check being performed to a blanket statement that the Professionals hired to pilot the airplanes don't do their job or that the ariports don't provide enough light 24/7 for a plane carrying a 100 or more people to be looked at properly at any time of the day.

SDF_Traveler

It's normal for the pilot to do a walk-around inspection as part of the check-list.

It happens, but if you're not looking for it, you probably don't see it.

I've seen many NW pilots (and pilots of other carriers) make their "walk arounds" to physically inspect the plane before it takes off. Usually before boarding the pilot will go out via the stairs attached to the jetway and make his/her walk-around as part of the pre-flight check and then get back on the plane and finish the pre-depature checklist.

Chances are you're not noticing a pilot doing the walk-around. I don't know the walkaround checklist for larger aircraft, but in general they probably look at the static port and a look at flight surfaces. They're certainly done though!

SDF_Traveler

PetoskeyFlyer

Northwest
Flight Number 540 (NW540)
Departure
Airport: Grand Rapids, MI
Scheduled Time: 6:40 AM, Jul 10
Actual Time: 4:01 PM, Jul 10
Arrival
Airport: Detroit, MI
Scheduled Time: 7:30 AM, Jul 10
Actual Time: 4:29 PM, Jul 10
Status: Landed
Equipment: A320