Had to pick between re-torquing all 200 fasteners or signing off a sketchy logbook entry today

I went with the re-torque because my IA was watching, but it cost me 3 hours and now I'm behind on the C-check. Anybody else get stuck between doing it right and hitting the deadline?

2 comments

2 Comments

hugo_bennett1mo agoMost Upvoted

Honestly dude, sounds like you made the safe call but maybe it wasn't that serious. 200 fasteners is a lot of work for something the IA probably just glanced at anyway. Those logbook entries get signed off sketchy all the time and nobody crashes. Guys act like one loose bolt takes down a plane but realistically it's all about the critical stuff. You probably could've just signed it and moved on. Deadlines matter too, you know?

hart.cora29d ago

Well, I have to say I disagree with you there. I've been in this business for over 20 years, and I remember one time on a Cessna 172 I caught a loose fastener on the wing root that looked fine at first glance. It wasn't a critical bolt, but it was holding a fairing that could have come off at speed and hit the tail. I spent a whole afternoon re-torquing about 150 fasteners just to be safe, and the IA actually thanked me later because he found three more that were under spec. It's not about every little bolt being perfect, it's about building a habit of checking instead of guessing. Deadlines are important, sure, but so is sleeping at night knowing you did the job right.