What: Transaero Airlines Boeing 737-300 en route from Moscow Domodedovo to St. Petersburg (Russia) Where: Moscow When: Jul 20th 2009 Who: 41 passengers and 6 crew Why: On takeoff, the right wing lost a 60 by 80 centimeter “leading edge fairing”. The flight continued as usual and fortunately landed safely in St. Petersburg.
The part was found on the Domodedova airport runway.
George’s Point of View
I’m sure that all of us have heard of the old saying (paraphrased from De Minimis Maxima ) the mighty oak from tiny acorns grow.
When one considers the question of pieces falling off of a plane, it seems simultaneously a tiny pointless thing and a huge issue. Consider a miniscule hole in the roof of our house is hardly worth considering; perhaps it is even invisible to the naked eye. But look what damage it causes when it rains. Somehow I don’t think “the leading edge” is like a car’s hubcap, mostly for decoration. It’s there to do something, and when that part is gone, that something is undone and will have consequences. Maybe letting in some moisture. Maybe causing corrosion down the road.
As a frequent passenger, I tend to be somewhat fatalistic about plane parts. Look, some engineer put that part there for a reason. I don’t know what that reason is, but if it’s good enough for the plane’s engineer, it is good enough for me, and I’d just as soon not fly without it. So many carriers get bad reputations based on careless maintenance of old planes, and this is just the kind of incident that gets people talking. (Old planes need MORE maintenance as they get older, just like old furniture, old machines, old cars, old people, old EVERYTHING.) Certainly Russia knows that maintenance deferred–especially on an airplane–is a recipe for disaster.
I just hope they replace the part before the little acorn of a problem grows into a great big oak tree of a pending disaster. This may be the first incident in a chain of events that unravels the whole plane.
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Strategist, consultant and entrepreneur, George Hatcher works with some of the world's most renowned law offices. George is a strategist for lawyers, searching the details of every case, doing the detective work to decide if a case is or is not viable. Aviation cases of company demand a great investment; and George determines if the case is strong enough to guarantee the investment of millions of dollars. Sometimes, this means traveling to different countries to interact with clients and lawyers who have requested his assistance. Sometimes this means getting directly involved with family interviews, like individual interviews with the families of deceased in the accident of the TAM. After 45 years consulting in this arena, George knows his field. George is the lawyers go-to guy to do what needs to be done. George represents you with optimum ethics and professionalism. He has it takes to find you justice.
George Hatcher trabalha com alguns dos mais prestigiados escritórios de advocacia no mundo, estrategista e consultor pessoal e empresarial. George é um estrategista para advogados, buscando detalhes, fazendo o trabalho do detetive para decidir se um caso é viável ou não. Casos de companhias aéreas exigem um grande investimento. George determina se o caso tem conteúdo suficiente para garantir um investimento de milhões de dólares. Algumas vezes, o questionamento jurídico significa viajar para diferentes países para encontrar com clientes e seus advogados que pediram sua ajuda. Algumas vezes isso significa se envolver em um caso e lidar com entrevistas com vítimas e famílias. (por exemplo, entrevistas individuais com as famílias dos mortos no acidente da TAM). Depois de 45 anos sendo consultor nessa área, George sabe muito bem o que funciona. George é a pessoa ideal procurada por advogados para executar qualquer tarefa necessária. George representa você com o melhor da sua ética e profissionalismo. Ele tem o que você precisa para encontrar justiça.