For those of you that work on or support helicopters or have ever been to the Helicopter Association International’s (HAI) main event — Heli-Expo, you know that it is undoubtedly the largest helicopter tradeshow in the world. This year’s Heli-Expo 2024 was no exception.
Although the main theme of Drone Scents is sUAS maintenance, it is always underscored by safety.
Just like last year Summer is rounding the corner in the Northern Hemisphere. Just like last year I am reminding you: “To NOT stay thirsty my friends.” Heat and Humidity, the curse of a helicopter mechanics’ workday, is coming to a hangar near you.
Just finished reading an article written by Arron Karp published in the March/April issue of Avionics International: “Aviation Maintenance Technician Shortage Threatens Post Covid Rebound”. The article begins: “As demand for aviation roars back generally—and for passenger airline services in particular—demand for aviation maintenance technicians (AMTs) is rapidly rising. Now, a long-feared AMT shortage has arrived, according to experts and industry forecasts, and is not expected to get better anytime soon.”
B-nuts to be specific. The NTSB has released Safety Alert 086 titled Mechanics: Ensure B-nuts Are Properly Secured! You can view the Safety Alert by visiting https://www.ntsb.gov/Advocacy/safety-alerts/Documents/SA-086.pdf.
The Safety Alert starts off saying, “B-nuts are a small piece of hardware that can cause a big problem if they are not properly secured.”
It goes on to discuss “The problem.”
The Helicopter Maintenance magazine team was in Atlanta March 7-9 attending HAI Heli-Expo 2023. It was nice walking the show talking to the exhibitors and learning about all the new products and services available for helicopter maintenance professionals. Thank you to all of you who stopped by our booth to say hi. It was great meeting new people as well as catching up with longtime acquaintances.
On January 11, the FAA published a notice of proposed rule making (NPRM) titled Safety Management Systems.
The summary of this NPRM states:
After 119 years of aircraft technology advancements, we are still seeing technology developments. Like the Wright Brothers in the years leading to first flight in 1903, companies investing in the future of aviation do so with great risk at the chance of either rewards or failure.
Stress is one of the Dirty Dozen human factors. D.O.M. contributing writer Gordon Dupont discussed stress in one of his articles for D.O.M. magazine, our sister publication. You can learn about stress and how it affects us by reading Dupont’s article here: https://www.system-safety.com/articles/DOM/21%20Stress.pdf.
Stress is a normal part of life. As Dupont says in his article, “…the only time we have no stress is when we are dead…”
Like many of you, I have been through several changes in my career. For me, each change brought both excitement and anxiety. I was eager to tackle new jobs and opportunities, but also anxious about how I would handle the change. I’ve learned from every opportunity and continue to embrace change.
