[OldGoatCPO]

Over the years, people laughed at military standards, i.e., $700 toilet seats. However, MilSpecs requires standards, and the items are inspected every step before they end up in an aircraft. That does not always mean something does not go wrong. Several years ago, the Air Force or Navy outsourced a part only to find that it was listed as MilSpec but never met the standard; the parts came from the trash bin and were cleaned up and resold. The government was not happy, and people went to jail.

I was a Civilian QAR on numerous military aircraft, and it was common for us to call the factories and speak to the engineers. Once, I had to call different Lockheed sites before I found an engineer who had been part of the team that designed an electro-mechanical flight control system. That system was no longer used on more modern aircraft as everything went digital. The engineer confirmed my suspicions. I downed the plane, and all hell broke loose. If I was wrong, I was threatened with termination and demotion, which is a normal day for a QAR. The mechanics tried to bypass me and list the aircraft as safe for flight. The engineer backed me, so the aircraft was deemed unsafe for flight. Imagine if that engineer was no longer at that company. There was a potential that if the system failed, the jet could crash. Maybe it would, or maybe it wouldn't. My job was not to evaluate risk, but to follow safety protocols.

[DoughtyOne]

Someone needs to go and it isn’t the guy who knows his stuff. It’s the
supervisor.

Build to spec or beyond.

Sounds like a stressful position. Thanks for the mention.