Can't Fix Stupid !!!

[Bob_Roller]

Just found out about an incident that happened at work early Sunday morning .
I work for a domestic US airline as an aircraft mechanic .
Early Sunday morning the night shift did something that caused a major fire department response .
A mechanic set an alcohol soaked paper towel on fire .
Another mechanic had a full bottle of alcohol and emptied it on the paper towel .
This is in a new hangar, it has a thermal imaging fire detection system .
The detector saw this and set off the automatic foam fire fighting system .
This system has enough fluid to fill the entire hangar to a depth of 12-15 feet, 4-5 meters .
No one as injured but there were two aircraft in this hangar with entry doors and cockpit windows open .
The cockpit of both aircraft were filled with foam and foam filled the cabin at the front and back of the aircraft .
Both mechanics involved were escorted off of the airport .
They may face possible arson charges for this and pay for the cost of the incident .
The city aviation department has revoked their airport security badges, they will never get a security clearance at a US airport ever again .
The Federal Aviation Administration which issues the aircraft mechanic licenses will most likely revoke their licenses .
Both of these mechanics were 22 years old less than a year with the company .
They walked into a $100,000 a year job with no experience .
They just ruined their lives with one idiotic act  !!!

[Burt]

At least when they installed a similar system in my old Air Force hanger they moved the aircraft out and closed the doors to test the system.  Usually we had one aircraft on jacks whilst in a deeper level servicing, so it was arranged around that.  The photos were impressive. 

Oh, and they gave us the day off.    

I cannot believe how stupid that act was, as the safety around preventing fires in the hanger or around aircraft such as when refuelling was paramount.  If I even inadvertently did something along those lines, I would have had my backside kicked from here to kingdom come. 

Is that stupidity a reflection of the current generation coming through the training system? 

On a side note, when working in the Middle East the Avionics chaps required alcohol as a cleaning agent.  The effort expended trying to get one bottle of alcohol into a muslim country was impressive as they treated it as an attempt to get around the prohibition on any form of drinking alcohol. 

[Bob_Roller]

Got a little more information about this .
The two mechanics had 2 years with the company and were considered two of the best employees on that crew .
In their statement of the incident, they wondered if the denatured alcohol they had was flammable .
It's stated on the bottle that the liquid and vapor of this bottle are extremely flammable .
They were working around the right main landing gear when this happened .
When I started with this company, I had a lead mechanic make the statement, that with your having an aircraft mechanics license, you passed the 'test ' .
Meaning that you have shown you have common sense above the general population and general good working knowledge of mechanical things .

I am convinced that an advanced life form planted us here a long time ago and will come back to 'harvest' us when we become dumb enough !
I think harvest day is not too far off !!!!!
Reminds me of an episode from an early 1960's sci-fi program, The Twlight Zone, episode mane  'To Serve Man' .

Here's a short clip of this episode .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKrl9cBkJIU&t=540s

[skippyc]

Our system of law has taught us that common sense is no longer accepted as part of a qualification.

[Burt]

My next question which would have already been asked, is what would they be carrying as a flame source around an aircraft? 

Static electricity is the big danger with bonding, earthing and fire extinguishers, etc.  We were expected to dump the contents of a fire extinguisher in an access panel on start up if the pilot had an engine fire and had not set the aircraft extinguishers off.  Annual mandatory training, long sleeves, no smoking and the list goes on. 

Oh well, at least flipping burgers will be a start in their next career choice. 

[Bob_Roller]

They used a butane fueled soldering iron .
Which is prohibited around or in an aircraft .
A fact finding investigation was conducted yesterday .
The two people involved stated that the alcohol, isopropyl, had 70% alcohol and 30% water, they didn't think it would burn .
Both people involved were terminated, but the reason they gave for this, was their airport security badges were revoked by the city aviation department .
If you don't have a security clearance, you can't work on the airport property .
So the company stated that this was out of their control !!
Also an incident report from the Phoenix police department and the airport fire department were submitted with the county attorney general, they will make determination as to whether criminal charges will be filed against the two people involved .
The company has not yet decided as to whether to file a law suit to re-coup the cost of this incident .
It's estimated to be in the area of $1-1.5 million .
So they could also be financially ruined by this as well .

[dogshome]

Please tell me they are not bikers. Worse, they ride airheads 
If they don't get criminal charges and costs, they will definitely get civil.

[Bob_Roller]

I don't know anything about them, I wouldn't know them if I walked by them .
Since the Covid era, we had a significant amount of people took the buyout in 2020 .
They were replaced by people that had no experience in aircraft maintenance, fresh out of school .
When I walk through the hangar at 5 AM, I don't know 95% of the people that work the night shift .
I couldn't say one way or another as to whether they are bikers or not, I'm the only one that rides airheads .
There is only one other BMW bike that I see and it's a late model bike .

[Burt]

When we used isopropyl alcohol it was with full PPE.  As for using a butane powered soldering iron around an aircraft, that is just a WTF moment.  A soldering iron is a workshop tool and I have never seen one used on an aircraft.  Remove the component and repair in the workshop. 

I will be surprised also if Federal charges are not bought against the pair, or at least investigated as to me the implications of their actions are far more severe from a Homeland Security point of view. 

Yep, you can't fix stupid. 

[dogshome]

Here in the UK, we had no Covid buyout. Far from it. A lot of people lost their jobs and that was it. Some got fuloughed, others just kept going, like me 

Those two with the IPA were idiots. I suggest that the other 95% you don't know might be worth getting to know? We have a new batch of apprentices, and actually, there are some personalities, humour and friends to be made 

[Bob_Roller]

I don't interact with this crew. I work in a shop on the second floor . My job is emergency egress lighting systems for all 850 aircraft that my employer operates . I am rarely on the floor of the hangar where the aircraft are worked on .