Flight School maintenance write-ups

[gulfstream2345]

I was recently an instructor at a flight school in Denver (not my full-time gig) teaching my relatives and friends only. I was preflighting a C-172 and noticed the left gear strut cover was wrinkled and chunks of paint were missing and the right gear strut cover on the bottom near the wheel was torn and bent. I asked the dispatcher to look at the damage and we both agreed that it appeared to be a hard landing and possibly a runway departure due to the damage on the right strut.

I wrote it up as a possible hard landing. The next week when I checked on what was done I was confronted by the manager and he explained that the airplane had been grounded by my write-up and it cost him $500 for an inspection. The inspection found no evidence of a hard landing.

I was told that in the future if I wrote up something and it was "unfounded", I would be responsible for the maintenance. It wasn't like I wrote up a cracked cup holder, a dirty windshield or a missing static wick. Needless to say, I departed that flight school immediately.

Comments???

 

[landlover]

bring your business elsewhere, which it seems you did already. He runs/owns a flight school and doesn't employ a mechanic for things like this? He is obviously not very bright.

 

[Singlecoil]

Always photograph everything you write up; airline, general aviation, whatever. There is always some tool who will try to cover his rear by hanging you and it is nice to have evidence to support yourself.

 

[brokeflyer]

I was recently an instructor at a flight school in Denver (not my full-time gig) teaching my relatives and friends only. I was preflighting a C-172 and noticed the left gear strut cover was wrinkled and chunks of paint were missing and the right gear strut cover on the bottom near the wheel was torn and bent. I asked the dispatcher to look at the damage and we both agreed that it appeared to be a hard landing and possibly a runway departure due to the damage on the right strut.

I wrote it up as a possible hard landing. The next week when I checked on what was done I was confronted by the manager and he explained that the airplane had been grounded by my write-up and it cost him $500 for an inspection. The inspection found no evidence of a hard landing.

I was told that in the future if I wrote up something and it was "unfounded", I would be responsible for the maintenance. It wasn't like I wrote up a cracked cup holder, a dirty windshield or a missing static wick. Needless to say, I departed that flight school immediately.

Comments???

tell him fck off and then go a super pre-flight and write up everything and fax it to the FAA......

 

[avbug]

I wrote it up as a possible hard landing. The next week when I checked on what was done I was confronted by the manager and he explained that the airplane had been grounded by my write-up and it cost him $500 for an inspection. The inspection found no evidence of a hard landing.

I was told that in the future if I wrote up something and it was "unfounded", I would be responsible for the maintenance. It wasn't like I wrote up a cracked cup holder, a dirty windshield or a missing static wick. Needless to say, I departed that flight school immediately.

Comments???

Your write-up was out of line, and in error. You had no business guessing as to what might have done the damage, and writing your guess as a discrepancy.

You noted damage. Write up the damage. Don't write up the cause...especially when you have no knowledge of the cause.

This is aviaiton. We do not guess. We know. If you don't know, don't guess.

 

[gulfstream2345]

Brilliant, AVBug. As usual you know it all. So how would you in your vast experience write it up?

 

[avbug]

A little slow on the uptake, aren't you?

You noted damage. Write up what you saw.

You didn't do that. You wrote up what you did not see.

If you don't know what caused it, then don't write up what you don't know. This is very elementary. Really material for the third grade level. Not brilliant, just basic.

If you see something and intend to write it up as discrepancy, then write up what you see. You see wrinkled skin, then write up wrinkled skin. If you see a bent gear leg, then write up a bent gear leg. You see oil dripping, then write up oil dripping.

Unless you have knowledge of a hard landing beyond your own guesswork based on what you *think* you see, then don't write up a hard landing.

 

[brokeflyer]

although avbug is "kinda" right his normal attitude is what's out of line. Yes, you should write it up as you see it.

I think that avbug is what went over the line with his idiotic, childish and obvious lack of tack reply is what the problem is.

A simple "next time don't include what you think the cause of the write up is, just write up the problem". That would have went a whole lot further.

 

[USMCmech]

The point that Avbug is making (with his usuall complete lack of tact) is that as a pilot you should not "troubleshoot" when you write up a mechanical defect.

I was preflighting N123AB and noticed the left gear strut cover was wrinkled and chunks of paint were missing and the right gear strut cover on the bottom near the wheel was torn and bent.

Nothing more. If you get a chance to speak with one of the mechs, you might say something like: "It looks like a hard landing to me, but I'm just a throttle jocky."


OTOH, the reaction of the manager is still unacceptable and you're most likely better off teaching elsewhere.

 

[brokeflyer]

class avbug...all class.....