Today is the news of a accident at Brindisi airport: at 8:35 a.m. aboard a Boeing 737 of Ryanair bound for Turin there was a start of fire in one of the engines. Fortunately none of the 184 passengers of flight FR8826 was injured and they were all evacuated without problems via the emergency slides and now the Salento airport has been reopened.
Beyond the actual causes, which will have to be clarified by the competent authorities, when accidents of this type occur we always ask ourselves if and how the airliner maintenance. Controls are normally divided into 4 categories indicated with a letter that goes from A to Dto which are added i daily checks.
Daily checks of airliners
Before each flight, tests are carried out inspections to ensure that the aircraft is able to fly safely: the cabin crew has a list with the most critical areas of the aircraft to inspect which include control panels, fuselage, fuel system, communications, navigation and the avionics. During these inspections it is necessary to identify and report any damage, loss or serious signs of wear.
In addition to checks prior to each flight, checks are also carried out daily checks landing gear, brakes, engine oil level, and hydraulic systems.
Check A
The check A is carried out every 500 flight hours or between 8 and 10 weeks. As part of this process, filter changes, checks on on-board instruments and inspections of the aircraft’s exterior, avionics systems and all emergency equipment are carried out. Normally these are interventions that last between 6 and 24 hours depending on the size of the aircraft.
Check B
Then there is the check Bwhich in theory should be done every 6 months but which is often incorporated within the Check A or of Check C. These are more in-depth inspections similar to Check A but with additional elements necessary to ensure that Check A has been carried out correctly.
Check C
The check C is carried out every 4000–6000 flight hours or every 2-3 years. During this work, thorough lubrication of fittings and cables is carried out, fluid levels and the condition of tires, brakes, avionics systems, flight controls, engines and landing gear are examined.
Check D
THE check D are carried out every 24,000 or 40,000 hours of flight or every 9-12 years. It is absolutely about the more detailed controlswith in-depth inspections and repairs to the entire aircraft in all its components. To do this, a large part of the vehicle is dismantled, checked and reassembled, including seats, bathrooms and landing systems. Being very detailed operations they can require 3 to 6 weeks and their cost is in the order of million dollars.
