Kevin Cook

[KC-10 Driver ✈️ 👨‍✈️ B-737 Wrangler @MCCCANM]

Can you fly with missing screws?

Yes. You’ve been doing it your whole life, going back to the dawn of the jet age…you just didn’t know it.

The trick is knowing how many screws are missing, what they support & how many can be gone.

We have a whole book for it: the MEL.

MEL stands for Minimum Equipment List. It’s essentially a book that describes all the various systems installed on the airplane, which can be broken (INOP) at any given time & if there are restrictions on flying with that system broken.

Sometimes, you may have multiple broken systems. The MEL will tell you if the broken systems affect each other.

For example, we have two radar altimeters on the 737. The MEL lists them as “Radar Altimeter. 2 installed. 1 required (to fly)”

The MEL may also list any specific restrictions that apply in that situation…for example, the weather forecast at destination may have to be above a certain level if one of the radar altimeters is inop, because certain instrument approaches require the use of both radar altimeters.

The MEL may further elaborate, restricting you from flying if the wing anti-ice is also inop because of some relation to how the plane would be flown (I’m making that anti-ice part up just to illustrate).

The engineers have designed & approved the MEL in such a way that the plane can be flown without increasing risk when some systems are inop.

There are many systems on the aircraft that are listed as “2 installed, 2 required”…they can’t be broken. Keep in mind - we’re not talking about big items here, like an engine or a hydraulic system. MEL items that can be deferred are always “nice to have, but not necessary”.

But…it’s just not practical to expect that every system will be operational on every flight. Airplanes are complex & though our maintenance practices have evolved to the point we now replace some systems before they even break, you’d paralyze the entire air travel industry if you insisted every single system worked every single time.

While the MEL doesn’t cover how many screws have to be on that section of the wing, Maintenance teams have similar guidance that does cover those things.

As the article explains: “Both Virgin and Airbus stressed there was no impact to the safety of last week’s aircraft despite the missing fixings.”

They counted the missing screws, noted their location and referred to the book.

The engineers have already done the work; you need X number of screws on component Y and no more than Z can be missing in sequence, according to the book (I’m creating that as an example).

Maintenance comes back & tells you the airplane is airworthy, but that they’ve documented the missing screws in the log book, which will be replaced at the next maintenance opportunity.

Most pilots trust that, and with good reason – we know there’s often something broken or missing on the airplanes. Just going through the maintenance records on the number of dents alone on every flight is kind of painful, but it’s all there, on every flight, attached to the flight plan: the log book’s most recent maintenance discrepancies, which have been deferred, which have been fixed & what they did to fix it.

Over time, some of the screws will come out. The jets are up & down multiple times a day, going through turbulence, landings, thrust reversers and – most damaging of all – taxiing at ORD.

So, yes – you can fly with missing screws. The tolerances are well known & can be quickly referenced. Your last flight probably had a few screws missing somewhere & your next one will, too.

Why did they cancel the flight? I don’t know, but anytime the word “Panic” is used, I start to tune out mechanical issues & focus on people issues.

[Sickos Committee @SickosCommittee]

SOMEONE WON A STATE TITLE WITH AN IOWA TOUCHDOWN

[RedditCFB @RedditCFB]

Obviously hope this doesn’t happen, but if there’s an injury in practice in the next few weeks does the Committee meet and redo the top 25? If the primary criterion is who is available rather than what was achieved on the field it would be inconsistent not to.

[Dear Old State @_DearOldState]

Get rid of Yurcich

[CFBTalkDaily @CFBTalkDaily]

You fire Mike Yurcich immediately after this game

[Sickos Committee @SickosCommittee]

Iowa vs Northwestern in Wrigley but it’s a silent film by @TheMrMatthewCFB

[USA Lacrosse Men's National Team @USALMNT]

CHAMPIONS OF THE WORLD. 🏆

THE UNITES STATES OF AMERICA. 🇺🇸

IT’S OVER. IT’S OVER. IT’S OVER.

[VMI Lacrosse @VMI_Lacrosse]

Big things coming for the VMI Defense.
Read more here: https://t.co/wnRZozBKLn
#BuiltDifferent #ACES #RahVaMil

[Tyler @I_AM_WILDCAT]

Sad about Damar Hamlin and sad about Ken Block. Damn wtf just happened.

[ᴘʀɪɴᴄᴇꜱꜱʙᴀʙʏᴀɴɢᴇʟ ʚ♡ɞ @iTzPlayaPink]

@PrinceHAK33M 😭😂

[RedditCFB @RedditCFB]

"That sonuva b----!"
"Oh, we can say that now?"
Kirk quietly waving "No you can't say that" is what made this clip even better

[NASCAR @NASCAR]

"I can't believe what I just saw." #NASCARPlayoffs

[Worm 🐛 @wormgirlll]

Hell yeah brother

[Bloomberg @business]

Ghislaine Maxwell, the British socialite convicted of sex-trafficking with former boyfriend Jeffrey Epstein, has been put on suicide watch by federal jail officials https://t.co/zbR1v6OPZK

[average size tyke @avgsizetyke]

Miles Teller? you mean an odometer?

[Barstool Sports @barstoolsports]

This guy live broadcasting plane landings during high winds is ELECTRIC https://t.co/5VOsa2gsX0

[The Babylon Bee @TheBabylonBee]

Media Spreads Misinformation On Joe Rogan To Prevent Him From Spreading Misinformation https://t.co/CzkR9uztiL

[$𝔩𝔞𝔭☃️ @slvppy]

y’all remember in first grade when we were just chillin in class then somebody threw up outta nowhere

[Chris Castellani @Castellani2014]

Joe Burrow vs Matthew Stafford gotta be one of the most likable QB matchups in Super Bowl history.