"I just reached out and pulled that lever, and she folded right up."
Posted on 01/03/2003 6:08:27 AM PST by Fizzie
Mechanic disables jet, citing safety concerns By Jeffrey Leib, Ryan Morgan and Jim Hughes Denver Post Staff Writers
Friday, January 03, 2003 - A mechanic who said he was concerned about the safety of a Frontier Airlines 737 prevented its takeoff from Denver on Wednesday by tossing a wheel restraint into an engine, authorities say. The plane, loaded with about 130 passengers, had just been pushed back from the boarding gate for a trip to Dallas when the incident occurred.
The day before, the plane had been struck by lightning near Tampa, Fla., but Frontier officials said the jet was later inspected and deemed safe to fly.
An affidavit signed Thursday by FBI Agent Nick Vanicelli said Frontier mechanic Corydon Van Dyke Cochran, 44, admitted throwing a wheel chock into the No. 1 engine of the jet shortly after noon Wednesday because he felt the plane was unsafe to fly.
Chocks are pieces of rubber that are used to block planes' wheels when aircraft are parked.
"He decided that the only way to keep it from flying was to disable it," Vanicelli's affidavit said.
The document said a Frontier ramp supervisor "heard Cochran, over her maintenance radio, say, 'Don't dispatch aircraft 313, it took a chock to the engine."'
The act disabled the 737, which was scheduled to leave DIA as Frontier Flight 136 to Dallas about 12:45 p.m. Wednesday. The federal document said Cochran threw the chock into the engine after the plane had been pushed back from the gate, just before it would have taxied to one of DIA's runways.
Frontier spokeswoman Elise Eberwein said passengers on Flight 136 were put on another Frontier plane for the trip to Texas.
She said the plane underwent engine repairs for the wheel- chock damage and flew a scheduled route from DIA on Thursday evening.
"The damage was not significant enough to keep it out of service for long," she said.
Cochran, who declined to comment on the matter, was charged with destruction of aircraft, which carries penalties of up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. He was released on personal recognizance Thursday after an appearance before a U.S. magistrate.
"Throwing a wheel chock into a $4 million engine would be the act of a disturbed individual," said Steve Carey, spokesman for the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Organization.
The Frontier jet was struck by lightning while flying into Tampa on Tuesday, and Cochran said he believed the plane needed another lightning-strike inspection before it was safe to fly, the affidavit said.
"Cochran observed that a light bulb was burned out on the left wingtip," the document said. "Cochran felt that if the burned-out bulb had been missed, then the lightning-strike inspection done in Tampa was probably suspect."
The affidavit signed by the FBI's Vanicelli said Frontier maintenance supervisor John Basile III told federal officials that Cochran, "in his position as mechanic, could have prevented the aircraft from flying by making a log book entry indicating that he felt it was unsafe."
"Further, Cochran could have verbally advised the pilot that the aircraft was unsafe, and that would have prevented it from departing," the affidavit continued.
According to Basile and Ron Zaiss, another Frontier maintenance supervisor, "Cochran had numerous courses of action that he could have pursued rather than damaging the aircraft if he thought an unsafe condition existed," the document added.
Eberwein said the plane had at least two lightning-strike inspections after the Tampa incident and that the Frontier captain who flew the plane back to Denver from Tampa on Wednesday morning was satisfied that it was safe to fly.
Eberwein said the crew that was scheduled to fly the plane to Dallas also was satisfied that the aircraft was safe.
Vanicelli's affidavit said David Davidson, the pilot in command of Flight 136, was in the cockpit preparing for the plane's departure when "Davidson observed a Frontier mechanic, later identified as Cochran, walk out toward the aircraft and throw a wheel chock into engine No. 1, which was running. Davidson was forced to shut down the engine, and the aircraft was towed back to Gate 36."
The affidavit said that before Cochran took his action, the mechanic told Basile about the burned-out light and his concern about the safety of the plane.
"Basile decided to replace the light bulb and approve the aircraft," the document continued. "Basile and the lead mechanic visually inspected the aircraft again. Basile then advised the pilot that the aircraft was OK. Cochran was present during this conversation."
Eberwein said Cochran has been removed from his duties at Frontier while Wednesday's incident is under investigation.
Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Allen Kenitzer said FAA inspectors also are investigating the incident.
That's putting it mildy. As it says later in the article: why didn't the guy advise the pilot about his concerns?
Wheel chock probably bounced off of the fan blades and maybe bent or nicked a few, it's not sucking much in running at ground idle.
This jerk should be slapped silly for damaging a fine piece of machinery, and shouldn't even be allowed to change the oil on a chevy...
"I just reached out and pulled that lever, and she folded right up."
While flying a Beech 1900 a number of years ago, I was struck by lightning. The only thing it did to the airplane was melt a static wick to nothing on the main wing, and leave a small exit, or entry, hole on the rear stabalon. There was absolutely no damage done to any of the electronics or controls and the plane was cleared to fly after an inspection.
Or in his bloodstream. When I hear of irrational acts by people holding responisble positions for an extended time (he was 44, not 24) I always wonder about what pharmaceuticals might have been prescribed recently. Almost never find out though.
This would be more like taking the nuts off their tires.
Ranking up with the Titanic were several aircraft disasters.
Flight 800 - a 747 (1999), the Hawaiian 707 that had the top come off (1986), and the DC-10 that had the rear engine explode and disable all three hydraulic systems were noted.
ALL could have been prevented if the proper safety measure had been taken.
Flight 800 went down because the wiring inside the plane caught on fire, causing the plane to be cut in half right behind the cockpit - all souls perished.
Soon after it was discovered what caused it, all military aircraft and AF One wiring systems were overhauled.
When the FAA was asked in the documentary why all civilian aircraft wiring systems were not replaced, the FAA said they were "safe."
On the 707, passengers later testified they could see a crack going down the fuselage while they were boarding the plane, but naturally assumed the "government" was aware of it and it was no big deal - they were "safe."
Even the aircraft industry was aware of the problem - the rivets on the aluminum shell weakened after more than 20,000 flights due to pressurization and repressurization.
Kits were even available to repair the problem, but were "optional."
A stewerdess was the only one killed (sucked out instantly through the huge gaping hole) - everyone else had their seat belts on.
It is interesting to note that the 747 is being replaced with the 777 and the DC-10 is no longer in production (still in use).
This mechanic did the right thing, but will probably be fired for it.
From the article:
"Basile and the lead mechanic visually inspected the aircraft again. Basile then advised the pilot that the aircraft was OK. Cochran was present during this conversation."
Sounds to me like Cochran was overruled by the lead mechanic (probably his boss), and in typical disgruntled unionized fashion took action against his management.
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