Maintenance Question

[proav]

I experienced a massive fuel leak during take-off in a Citation I and had to abort the take-off. A local mechanic tore into it and determined that a snap ring that held a "cup" over a fuel filter had came off. The snap ring had been safety wired together indicating that it was worn out before it was installed. I'm not sure if it was an used snap ring or if the mechanic that installed it was just trying to be extra cautious by safety wiring the ends together. In any case, the snap ring failed and caused the "cup" to slip down and allowing fuel to bypass the filter and spill out in massive amounts.
My question is this. Does anyone know if it is legal to safety wire an old snap ring together or even use a snap ring more than once. At best it seems like crumby workmanship.
Any thoughts?

 

[PBRstreetgang]

Hey,
Snap ring reuse would be determined by the maintence manual, if there was a requirement to replace the snap ring it would be stated as so, if not it would be the responsability of the installing mechanic to determine servicability of any and all parts reinstalled on the aircraft. As to safety wire the maintence manual would also specify. In summary there is no requirment to replace snap rings after one use, by definition the installing mechanic replaced a snap ring that was either unservicable or incorrectly installed, I would not want to be that person.
PBR

 

[transpac]

Many mechanics take the precaution of safety-wiring snap rings, particularly in critical applications. In this case, the snap ring apparently failed or was incorrectly installed. However, I don't think the presence of safety wire is evidence of anything.

 

[Gatorman]

$.02 worth

I am a mechanic and I not about to defend the person that did this, nor will I judge his actions to saftey the snap ring, neither should anyone else with out seeing it for themselves. It might not have been the snap ring that was worn but the filter 'cup' grove that the snap ring is to lock into.
Overall it sounds like it is a cheesy installation of a fuel filter in the first place.

 

[GravityHater]

can I ask how you noticed the leak, on the takeoff roll?

 

[proav]

I didn't actually know it was leaking until after the fact. I got a "Low Fuel Pressure" light on the annunciater (sp) panel after I had set "take off" power.

I aborted the take off and taxied back to the ramp. The line guy was quite excited by the amount of fuel that was leaking and he was yelling at us to get out of the plane. He was afraid that the engine might ignite the fuel and start a nasty fire. Obviously it all ended well.