Airline mechanics who can't read English

[planelove]

http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dws/wfaa/latestnews/stories/wfaa090515-_lj_harris.7a4a7d4.html


News 8 Investigates: Airline mechanics who can't read English

News 8 has recently revealed serious flaws in the way the FAA licenses mechanics who fix planes.

There is evidence of years of problems in testing these mechanics. There is also evidence that hundreds of mechanics with questionable licenses are working on aircraft in Texas.
Now there is evidence of repair facilities hiring low-wage mechanics who can't read English.

Twenty-one people were killed when U.S. Airways Express Flight 5481 crashed in Charlotte, North Carolina in 2003. The plane went wildly out of control on takeoff.

One reason for the crash, investigators found, was that mechanics incorrectly connected the cables to some of the plane's control surfaces in the repair shop. The FAA was cited for improper oversight of the repair process.

[Matt Molnar]

The story doesn't mention what kind of planes this facility works on. Airliners? Piper Cubs? Kind of an important detail. I think most airlines would be smart enough to know that stuff like this coming to light could put them out of business, especially if there was an accident.

Also, the mechanics involved in the US 5481 crash were incompetent, but there was nothing in the NTSB report about them not speaking English. Mechanics screw up sometimes no matter what language they speak.