Frightening

[Bavafa]

Originally Posted by Mel

I've found everything from clecoes to torque wrenches during inspections.

Will you get to keep them as founders keepers

[jimgreen]

My all time favorite is a vacuum cleaner found in a DC8 fuel tank.

[airguy]

Originally Posted by jimgreen

My all time favorite is a vacuum cleaner found in a DC8 fuel tank.

I had heard about a mattress left in a fuel tank from a worker taking a nap, that's the first I've heard of a vacuum cleaner...

[cactusman]

Originally Posted by airguy

I had heard about a mattress left in a fuel tank from a worker taking a nap, that's the first I've heard of a vacuum cleaner...

It's all fun and games till you hear the heart surgeon asking the nurse if she has seen his Porsche keys wile you are coming out of anesthesia.

[Neal@F14]

An AP/IA buddy of mine found a nice cordless drill inside the tailcone of a plane he was doing an annual inspection on a couple years ago.
He had to buy a battery charger for the drill off Amazon.com, but still uses that drill to this day.

[az_gila]

As already noted, it happens with the big guys too.

I saw this 737 land, and expensively scrape the runway, at LAX from my office on Imperial Blvd.

http://articles.latimes.com/1990-09-...rgency-landing

I bet there was a mechanic in SFO looking for his favorite flashlight.

It still reminds me to this day to check for flashlights.

[sblack]

On the shop floor at the company where I work the mechanics no longer use their own tools. There are official tool boxes with marked places to put every tool. At the end of every shift they are checked. If there is one missing the airplane in question is not released until they have found the tool or at least searched the airplane. Foolproof? No, humans are too resourceful. But a step in the right direction.

[1001001]

Originally Posted by sblack

On the shop floor at the company where I work the mechanics no longer use their own tools. There are official tool boxes with marked places to put every tool. At the end of every shift they are checked. If there is one missing the airplane in question is not released until they have found the tool or at least searched the airplane. Foolproof? No, humans are too resourceful. But a step in the right direction.

At many power plants there is a strict protocol to be followed any time the main steam path is opened up, especially during turbine overhauls. Usually there is a controlled perimeter such that anyone crossing it must have a full inventory of everything they are carrying performed. Only essential tools and safety gear are allowed in. Everything is then inventoried again when the person exits the perimeter. If there is a mismatch all works stops and a FOD check is done.

Additionally special FOD plugs are installed in pipes to prevent items from falling in. Often tools are required to have lanyards to prevent them from falling or being left behind.

This would be hard and possibly silly to do in a small hangar with one or two people working on a plane but it is good practice to eliminate nonessential items from your pockets and establish a practice of putting tools away in an organized fashion when the job is done. Keeping a list of the tools you have used on a critical job may be a good idea.

[az_gila]

Originally Posted by sblack

On the shop floor at the company where I work the mechanics no longer use their own tools. There are official tool boxes with marked places to put every tool. At the end of every shift they are checked. If there is one missing the airplane in question is not released until they have found the tool or at least searched the airplane. Foolproof? No, humans are too resourceful. But a step in the right direction.

It was even stricter in the FACO (Final Assembly and Check Out) bunker for working on live cruise missiles. Each tool was signed out and two workers were always present

I almost got assigned there during a union dispute at Raytheon.


PS they are the bunkers you see near the end of the runway when you take off from Tucson International (KTUS)