The wing had separated at the inboard section, at the wing/fuselage juncture. Further, to remove the the sealant from the interior of the wet bays to allow for inspection of the skins, stringers and both spars.The visual inspection was “to be performed in accordance with a method that has been approved by the FAA.”But the Airworthiness Directive was released without any method having been approved by the FAA. Why he was rubberstamping the improper work was either laziness, incompetence, or who knows what.
The flight was meant to depart Fort Lauderdale early that morning but they were held up by the weather. Under the sealant, around the edge of the slosh hole, there were sanding marks.From this evidence, it was not difficult to understand that multiple attempts to repair the crack had been made, none of them effective. Maybe you know this already but I thought I’d let you know. I do not possess an airplane license but like to see what mistakes are made so if I ever do get the opportunity to acquire a license I will hed these situations.Hi, the video in your “Chalk’s Ocean Air right wing falling off” is marked “unavailable, video is private”. She was becoming physically exhausted and was not enjoying the job any longer. Chalk's Ocean Airways is the exclusive air carrier to Paradise Island, operating to a new seaplane terminal located at the foot of the Atlantis Resort. My concern about Chalk’s and other small, financially challenged small operators is two-fold: 1) that their operaational and maintenance practices receive a heightened degree of scrutiny by FAA just like the large carriers, and 2) that the added scrutiny begins during that delicate time The Grumman G-73 airplane, operated by Chalk's Ocean Airways, was headed to the island of Bimini in the Bahamas. In a positive response to the Safety Board’s recommendation, FAA issued guidance to its inspectors about reviewing the state of an airline that is in financial distress. I am from Barcelona. | Ernest Hemingway loved Bimini for its access to deep-water fishing, and was a regular Chalk’s passenger during the 1940s. After the accident, the Safety Board wrote a letter to the FAA, expressing concern that certain aircraft, including the Grumman Mallard Turbo, were allowed to carry passengers for scheduled flights without having to undergo these supplemental inspections. He further stated that the repair was not accomplished using best maintenance practices. They had not paid their lease at Fort Lauderdale Airport for over six months, owing more than $11,000 in rent and landing fees. A specific FAA employee had as his job the oversight on the repairs being performed on this plane. You played second guess with yourself–and later–when the accident investigation board member(s) questioned you and your actions. TV-14. The probable cause of this accident has not been determined.The Grumman Mallard has a ‘wet wing’: the fuel is stored in sealed off portions of the wing itself. Believe me–it shook me up badly. However, Chalk’s Ocean Airways seem to have lost a load of maintenance records from 2000 and 2001 so they weren’t able to provide any furture information.The rivets used in the repair work were not installed correctly. They are oriented parallel to the spars but are much smaller. The crosspieces of the wing, the wing ribs, are oriented forward to aft. Still wonder who used my initials and man#, to sign off on important items during hour inspection processes. And so that was that. At least in this case–all the pilots suffered, was a lot of excitement, along with a badly damaged F-4C. The spars, the principal structural members of the wing, are oriented wingtip-to-wingtip. 46min. Chalk’s purchased the Mallard in 1980 and upgraded the aircraft to a Grumman Turbo Mallard: replacing the piston engines with turbo-propeller engines and upgrading the cabin to hold up to 17 passengers. How many would be able to verify if a log entry is in accordance to or violation of local or international civil aviation rules?That’s ultimately the job of the country’s aviation authorities: Make sure operators perform proper maintenance on their aircraft. But this is a temporary measure, not a repair in itself.They also found evidence of fatigue in the rear Z-stringer, which started at the slosh hole. The flight from Fort Lauderdale to Miami Seaplane Base was his first flight with the captain. Subscribe and Watch. Although the skin crack was slowly getting longer it was not thought to be anything other than a skin problem, which could be dealt with by affixing a doubler.The unseen cracked stringer on the accident aircraft allowed the right wing to flex more during flight which increased the bending forces at the root such that the visible skin crack slowly increased in length with each subsequent flight. Today it operates a fleet of Grumman G-73 Turbine Mallards on routes between Florida and the Bahamas as well as charter flights that include scenic overflights of Miami. Chalk’s briefly managed to continue offering flights by leasing aircraft from another airline. (courtesy Fawlty Towers). They also found additional undocumented maintenance work to the rivet fasteners. Investigators also concluded that the cracked stringer that initiated the wing loss had probably failed completely some considerable amount of time prior to the accident, leading to a substantial weakening of the wing structure. On November 4, 2005, the PMI sent a letter to Chalk’s Ocean Airways indicating that the aging airplane inspection and records review had been completed. Specifically, some of the rivets had undersized shot heads and were overdriven.