You know, when I'm at the airport, I'm always amazed by the flurry of
activity going on around the planes. All those people loading
baggage, checking out the plane, making sure everything works
right...ever wonder what they're really doing? It's an especially
important question in light of the Alaska Airlines crash a few weeks
ago -- as you know, the suspected cause is a mechanical problem in
that plane's tail fin.
For this week's Traveler's Aid section of the show, I wanted to find
out more about airplane maintenance. So I got in touch with Mike
Williams. He teaches at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, where he
trains a lot of the mechanics you see scurrying around the jets. The
first thing I wanted to know was...what those guys are doing out
there?
Mike Williams trains mechanics at Embry Riddle Aeronautical
University in Florida. Now, most of the recent talk about inspections
and mechanical safety has focused on our domestic fleet. But what if
you travel abroad, on a foreign airline? Can you be sure they've
checked out their planes? I put the question to Jim Burin. He's
director of technical programs for the Flight Safety Foundation, an
organization dedicated to, well, flight safety, here in the U.S. and
abroad. I asked him how we can be assured that other countries'
Super 80s have been checked.
Now, how does a pilot feel? I mean, they're the one's flying the
planes, and ultimately they must feel responsible when something goes
wrong. What do they think about all this? I caught up with Russell
Lewis. He's a public radio reporter with KPBS in San Diego. And he's
also a pilot. I asked him how he knows his plane is ready to go when
he is.
{ Travelers' Aid Index }
