::[ kampungkai ]::

Wednesday, May 31

Flight Safety: No laughing matter

Another post about License Aircraft Engineers if u don’t mind. What to do, not many people know about us. Even some flight stewardess said “huh? What do they do?”

Me, being (soon-to-be actually) one of the LAEs, and also a blogger, of course i would take the opportunity of blogging to spread my words and make the world hear me, feel me, understand me, and most importantly: REMEMBER US AS LICENSE AIRCRAFT ENGINEERS.

Flying is not a funny business. But do you know that flying is the safest of all modes of transportation? You don’t believe me?

According to the US based National Transportation Safety Board in a survey couple of years ago, it stated that your chances of being killed in a motorcar accident is 1 in 5,000. Malaysians know that very well as come festive season, we always have statistics of death by motor vehicle topping each other every year.

The US survery also noted that if you decide to travel by train, the odds are reduced to 1 in 40,000. In an aeroplane, it varies from 1 in 400,000 to 10,000,000 depending on the REPUTATION on the airline. (MAS reputation = GOOD ;P)

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Effects when baggages are unevenly loaded into the plane.

Just like your car, maintenance is the key to transportation safety. In reality, the maintenance guys of aircrafts are not like your next door mechanics. The difference being that we are not usually in greasy overalls and we don't allow you to sit and watch us until we get impatient and hit you with either a spanner or a humongous bill!

For your info, LAEs have uniforms to wear too. Like pilots, we have white shirt, black trousers, and 3 golden bars on our shoulder (3.5 bars for Foreman). But then again, that wont happen until i grad. Thus for now, as a trainee engineer, i'll stil be wearing greasy overalls haha!

Aircraft maintenance is professionally done. It involves serious no-nonsense approach. Prior to every flight, the maintenance personnels conduct a thorough visual inspection on the aircraft, checking for dents, damange, or cracks on the body and and oil leaks from the systems. Once found, we'll start cracking our heads like opening a durian!

Think think think! Accurate and fast decisions have to made immediately. Notify the Lead Engineer/Foreman about the problem, and inform the airport staff the time needed to delay the flight. Better be quick, because Malaysians are never patient when it comes to paying RM2000-4000 for a ticket hahaha! They expect quality, true?

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Looks like an aborted take off. Tyres will automatically puncture when overheat.

Also, after 3-50 days, the plane's surface controls are thoroughly checked. This includes the landing gears, brakes, various fluid levels as well as the oxygen system.

On top of that, every eight months, the internal control system, all the emergency equipment and the hydraulic system are carefully checked. Of course, if your see emergency equipments being deployed during a flight, it's probably time to call your family and the insurance agent! LoL...

*Extra knowledge: The air inflated-slide during emergency use can be fully inflated in just 6 seconds (it's very huge). And it is inflated using nitrogen.

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Bird strike on the engine. It must be an ostrich to cause that dent!

Every 12-17 months, the maintenance crew do an even more detailed check, using devices to probe for wear and tear, corrosion, and cracks in components that are not visible to the eye.

Most importantly, after every 3-5 years, the aircraft is taken apart for a major overhaul. Major overhaul means stripping the planes until it is naked. For easier understanding, strip off your clothes, your skin, your hair, your muscles, your organs, but only leave your skeleton. Get it?

This entails the removal of major components that are life expired and replacing them with newer ones where applicable. Kinda like doing plastic surgery, except that the final outlook will still be the same.

Never feel scared while flying alright? The guys maintaining your flight are well trained and experience. And no aircraft manufacturer sets out to produce a faulty aircraft, because it doesn't kill a maximum of 5-6, but a minimum of 100-200 people.

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Don't u feel more comfy in MAS' flight, rather than Aasia's?

Chill, sit back, chew kacang, and watch the in-flight entertainment while enjoying your aircraft meal ok? U'll reach your destination in no time and it's gonna be all fine.

16 Comments:

  • very cool blog! me likey! and its so rare to find someone so passionate about what they're doing, i wish you all the best :)

    i think my uncle's an LAE as well, lol, have always bugged him to show me the pilot's cockpit and what not...

    (and i tried that big slide thing before. fun!!!)

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at May 31, 2006 7:28 PM  

  • cool! Really comprehensive, and yes, can see you love what you are doing, which is very good for enjoying your career.

    Can understand that scenario which needs immediate and accurate troubleshoot and decision making. My bf used to be work in oil rig and those were the places where you see engineers really at work.

    Looking forward to more interesting posts about your learning life, and aircrafts!

    (hehe, i m from kampung too, but from up-north. Ever heard of SP, Kedah?)

    By Blogger YD, at June 01, 2006 12:26 AM  

  • Can't imagine how popular your blog is, a lot of friends come from all over the place! Seem that you have built your reputation long time ago, nice works!

    Thinking about I'll getting on one of the MAS fleet's 747 very soon to get back to my warmish house... Can't wait any longer !! and for sure, it's time for mamak again ;)

    see you soon!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at June 01, 2006 5:19 AM  

  • mate. nice blog. i envy you being around planes all day while i sit staring at 5 computer screens in the office all day. cant even go for lunch!!!! though i think your job is more stressful than mine!!! but its the love of it i guess...am into aircraft in a big way as well...you ought to check out the red bull air races. a little different from commercial aircraft but awesome nonetheless.. cheers.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at June 01, 2006 8:31 AM  

  • I also envy you being around planes. They are extremely fascinating. But I must admit I feel nervous on every flight I take. Reading a real blog of a soon to be LAE sure exterminate the pesky butterflies in my tummy. I'm sure you'll be talking about planes all the time when we ever meet, but I won't mind one bit. Coz let's face it, we are afraid of the unknown and I can't stand not knowing.

    Oh, yeah, I do prefer MAS; but then again, who doesn't.

    By Blogger gus, at June 01, 2006 11:55 AM  

  • another good post! :) ah..flying with these big machines.. gotta love it !

    By Blogger Rainbow, at June 03, 2006 7:28 PM  

  • nice post!
    I've always wondered, do they have a LAE on board during a flight? you know, in case of small emergencies in air.

    By Blogger yuin, at June 03, 2006 8:13 PM  

  • chansaire: ello u! thanx for the cool compliment :) your uncle's an LAE? oh it would be my pleasure to meet him, what's his name? that slide is fun rite?! hahaha....

    YD: nice to meet u YD. oil rigs, all engineers dream! scuba diving, underwater welding, coolness! My regards to your bf. oh SP, lovely place... lots of food (2nd street), curry chicken mee, chocolate dau-sha bia, and central square! oh the clock tower too!haha... My ex-gf is from sp (xing ming girl). How bout u? convent? the national school beside convent?

    yhlim: dude! i'm awaiting for your arrival man! we need to hang out soon! thanx for the nice words. Eh i thought MAS stopped their flight to manchester, how are u gonna catch the flight? from london?

    Spike: sounds like an IT fella with 5 LCDs haha! i guess u have your love in PC too. Red Bull air races, sounds interesting man, i shall check it out, thank you so much for sharing that! cheers! nice to meet u :)

    agus: haha feel free to open your mouth and ask, i'll tell u lots of stories and facts to clear your butterflies. Who doesn't like MAS? got alot laa.. those donkeys complaining MAS tickets being so expensive, but they actualy dun understand that the level of quality is different. Wait till i tell them the difference in maintainance, haha... they will stop flying Aasia.

    Acquiescence: kuantan girl! wanna change text book or not? or exchange magazie? i take your CLEO and u take my aircraft magz? :P

    Passion Flower: i'm lovin it, i'm sure u will do! TIll today, i still wonder how can such big heavy machines float inthe air...

    yuin: yo! LAE on board? it depends. hahaha but mostly no. no worries man... the flight is safe to fly before taking off cos the LAEs have check and recheck and rerecheck. Enjoy the flight!

    By Blogger Kampungkai, at June 03, 2006 8:56 PM  

  • yikes! i'm from sin min! haha... your ex-gf might be my junior! :-) gosh you ARE familiar with SP. :-S hehehe...

    By Blogger YD, at June 03, 2006 9:27 PM  

  • kai, at least tell us how they change the tire. WHat happen when the plane tilted due to distribution of baggage ? Then more info ler...we are NOOB in those stuffs ler...

    By Blogger FooDcrazEE, at June 04, 2006 9:37 AM  

  • I really like the way you explain things - stripped naked lah, open durians lah.. hahahah!! Thanks for making us understand your job scope.

    By Blogger Gina, at June 04, 2006 7:13 PM  

  • MAS give a ticket of another airline (bmi international) to fly from nearest airport (LBA) to London Heathrow and catch their normal flight (MH001) to KLIA. and damn stupid! the local airline only provide 20kg baggage allowance but MAS still give 30kg. What can I do to bring 30kg? I complain to MAS and they said they can't do anything about it, yet all these changes are due to their cancellation of MAN-KUL route! sigh...

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at June 05, 2006 11:33 AM  

  • Cool job u have there.

    Never heard of LAE until now. :D
    Make sure you check betul2.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at June 06, 2006 12:53 PM  

  • YD: somehow i'm a fast learner when it comes to road and places haha... but never on books, wonder why!

    fooDcrazEE: worried no1 will read anymore if i go too detail man. Girls hate technical stuff.

    Gina: next time must say PEEL RAMBUTAN... good idea! wahhahhah

    yhlim: oooo that sux... and it's unfair, but dun think there's anything u can do bout it cos it involes a 3rd party. Nvm... try shipping it back, or pay more for cargo?

    Che-Cheh: i want HOT JOB, dunwan cool job :( never heard of LAE til now? :( :( u just made me even more sad huhuhhuhhh :(

    By Blogger Kampungkai, at June 06, 2006 8:44 PM  

  • wow~~~u really enjoy ur study~~hahaha....good good~~~

    yea...AAsia is really nothg when compare wt MAS...hahaa....u get wat u pay for ma,rite???

    By Blogger py, at June 07, 2006 12:34 PM  

  • I am here because of search results for blogs with a related topic to mine.
    Please,accept my congratulations for your excellent work!
    I have a average teacher salaries site.
    Come and check it out if you get time :-)
    Best regards!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at July 18, 2006 1:16 AM  

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