Man Allegedly Throws Wheel Block Into Running Engine of Plane

AP / Fox News ^ | 1.3.03

[mhking]

DENVER

[mhking]

Could you imagine sitting on that plane and watching this moron toss the block into the engine?

"Hold muh beer 'n watch this!" PING....

If you want on or off this list, please let me know!

[Bogey78O]

why such an extreme action? Something doesn't seem right. Either this guy's nuts or someone doesn't care what his log says.

[det dweller too]

This looks like a gutsy move by someone who could not get the attention of the authorities. I will suggest withholding judgement for now.

[PropheticZero]

Man..isn't it awesome how those engines with all that turbomachinery spinning and amazing speeds can just swallow crap like wheel blocks and geese and hardly get messed up. Alot of times the keep running too. Go engineers.

[CARTOUCHE]

Your second assumption is probably the correct one. There is too much pressure from on high to keep the planes on schedule. However, throwing a rubber wheel chock into an engine seems a bit extreme, unless the mechanic's supervisor had already overridden the mechanic's concerns as a result of pressure from on high. Question: would you fly on an aircraft that had been struck by lightning if the flight attendant had informed you of such in the preflight briefing? Without knowing the possible ramifications of an inflight lightning strike would you fly? Apparently the mechanic knew what the possible ramifications were and he was concerned enough to botch the flight. There is more to this than meets the reporter's eye.

[RnMomof7]

I think the guys a hero..if that plan would have crashed and killed the passengers everyone would have said it was an "accident"

No accident just more interested in making the schedule than safety

[Irish Eyes]

First thing to go when airlines are having rough financial times is the maintainence of their planes.

Maybe we saw a whistle blower in action.

[Jorge]

The affidavit said Cochran could have grounded the plane by making a log-book entry saying he felt the airplane was unsafe or advising the pilot.

The charge carries up to 20 years in prison or a $250,000 fine....

The idea that this guy chose to risk 20 years in prison rather than simply following proper procedure to ground the plane makes him a appear a bit mentally unbalanced.
Scarey to think people like this actually work on commercial aircraft.

[It's me]

This looks like a gutsy move by someone who could not get the attention of the authorities. I will suggest withholding judgement for now.

I agree. Let's wait and see what comes out in a few days.

Could you imagine if you tried to get the plane held back,the higher ups ignored you, you did nothing further and then the plane crashed? This way at least he can live with himself for not taking the chance!

[Consort]

It was a wheel block; now it's an engine block.

[Poohbah]

Could you imagine if you tried to get the plane held back,the higher ups ignored you, you did nothing further and then the plane crashed?

Apparently, Mr. Cochran was unwilling to actually put it into writing, which actually would have grounded the airplane.

I wonder why that is.

[It's me]

Still wondering...

[LibWhacker]

. . . can just swallow crap like wheel blocks and geese and hardly get messed up.

And swallow people also -- who somehow manage not to get too messed up either. I'll never understand that!

[sit-rep]

Got your back on this one..

[Looking4Truth]

The article didn't mention electronics/avionics. Mechanical damage is one thing but even though the electronics are redundant I would think that an inspection would be 'no exceptions' in the case of lightning strikes.

Just my 2 cents.

[Calvin Locke]

... a gutsy move by someone who could not get the attention of the authorities.

Vaguely recall a Jimmy Stewart movie where he bursts in to the cockpit and retracts the landing gear while the plane is still on the ground.

And not moving, I guess I should add. The character was an aeronautical engineer, not a mechanic.

[Husker24]

No kidding, its incredible. I would have thought a giant shotgun blast of shrapnel would have shot out the other side. MINOR damage, wow!

[justlurking]

If he had the authority to ground the plane, why didn't the other mechanics listen to him and perform the "lightning strike inspection"? Why wasn't a "lightning strike inspection" performed after a lightning strike?

This article leaves out a few things. An earlier thread:

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."