Pilots and Mechanics: Improving the Relationship

When it comes to aircraft maintenance, pilots and mechanics too often get croswise. Good communication and reasonable expectations go a long ways toward keeping things smooth.

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The love-hate relationship between pilots/aircraft owners and mechanics/shops seems to wax and wane, depending on the person you spoke with last. The good news is that most of the time mechanics and pilots recognize that they depend on each other for their livelihood and existence. The bad news is that there are times that certain individuals from one group would cheerfully toss certain individuals from the other group into a room full of talk show hosts and throw away the key.

Over many years of representing pilots/aircraft owners and mechanics/shops where one has accused the other of improper actions and of having maintenance done on airplanes Ive owned, Ive come to the conclusion that the vast majority of problems that arise between pilots and mechanics over aircraft maintenance boil down to some combination of lack of communication and unreasonable expectations.

Too often pilot/aircraft owners expect mechanics to be able to perfectly fix an airplane on the first go around based on a squawk that says not much more than the airplanes broke, do it for free and have it done so the pilot can leave Friday afternoon for a weekend trip. By the same token, too often mechanics are willing to schedule more work than they can accomplish in a given time, dont give estimates for the cost of work needed and get authorization before doing so, surprise pilot/owners with the magnitude of the bill and then make the mistake of not requiring the pilot/owner pay for the work upon picking up the airplane.

What follows is a list, in no particular order, of suggestions for pilot/aircraft owners and mechanics/shops for bridging the gap between the two based on some years of defending each side in lawsuits while also doing my best to be a responsible aircraft owner and pilot.

Squawks

Pilots seem to vie with each other to write up the most terse, incomprehensible squawk when they experience something wrong with their aircraft. Engine vibration at 2400 RPM, may be a good place to start when outlining a problem, but its only a start. Pilots, when you write up a squawk, provide as much information as you can about the situation and the circumstances-youre trying to communicate with an intelligent person who wants to identify and fix a problem and who wasnt there to experience it.

Was the vibration in flight or on the ground? That may sound silly, but Ive seen pilots not bother to mention that the problem was only occurring while the airplane was on the ground. Provide details: at what altitude, temperature, power setting, indicated airspeed, gear and flap position, fuel flow, degrees rich or lean of peak EGT, CHTs-you get the idea. Think like a test pilot and record as much data as you can-what may seem trivial may be of great importance. Does the problem change when you change power setting or altitude? If so, how? What happens if you shut off a mag or change the mixture?

If the mechanic wants to talk about the problem you experienced, take the time to do so. As an owner, the time you spend going through what you experienced may save you money because it may cut down on the time the mechanic has to spend troubleshooting or replacing a part that is working just fine.

Fully Disclose

Pilots, if you tried to fix a problem that youve squawked, tell the mechanic what you did. A mechanic friend spent hours on a balky nav light only to discover the owner had found a broken wire and repaired it, but didnt strip the insulation off of the wire. Had the owner disclosed, the mechanic would have looked at the repair first.

If youve damaged the airplane, even a little ding, tell the mechanic. Bumping into the stabilator may be the source of the new vibration youre experiencing.

Troubleshoot

Pilots, let the mechanic troubleshoot. Taking the time to narrow down the possibilities is cheaper than sequentially replacing parts until the problem goes away. I dont know how many times Ive had owners complain to me that mechanics are ripping them off because they want to troubleshoot something rather than getting in there and replacing the bad part. Sometimes I can explain that the mechanic is trying to save time and money; sometimes the pilot/owner is simply a tightwad and just wants to complain. In my experience, those pilots/owners never seem to catch on and cant seem to understand why no mechanic within 100 miles will work on their airplanes.

Logs

Pilots/Owners, have a current, electronic copy of all of the logbooks for your airplane so you can get it to a mechanic quickly and easily. Part of troubleshooting may be looking at the repair history to see if there is a pattern.

The logbooks for your airplane are worth from 10-20 percent of its value-thats the amount that youll lose if you try to sell the airplane without complete logbooks. Think of those logbooks as you would several thousand dollars in cash. Therefore, the originals should be locked up somewhere safe. When maintenance is completed your mechanic will give you the necessary documentation on a sticker that you put into the hard copy of the logbook-you then scan that new page and add it to the electronic record you keep.

As an attorney, some of the ugliest fights I have seen between pilot/owners and mechanics/shops were over aircraft logbooks. In my opinion, the practice of shops keeping airplane logbooks on shelves in the office should stop. Its too easy for one to get misplaced; a fire can destroy them. Ive seen more than one situation in which an owner refused to pay a shops bill that the owner felt was too high, so the shop hid the aircraft logbooks and refused to return them until the bill was paid. Ive seen owners seek to have shop owners arrested for not returning logbooks.

Estimates

In almost every state its a law that if a shop is going to work on your car, it has to give you an estimate of the cost of repairs and you have to give the go ahead before the work is performed. You know what its going to cost before you go pick up the car. To me, thats common sense. However, too often, especially with annual inspections, a mechanic will figure out whats wrong with an owners airplane, make the decision as to the way he or she wants to fix it, fix it, tell the owner when its done and present a bill when the owner shows up to get the airplane. The bill is either a pleasant or unpleasant surprise.

I have never seen an owner get upset when the bill was a pleasant surprise. Nevertheless, it should never be a surprise. From my perspective, if a mechanic or shop has decided to buy itself as much trouble with pilot/owners as possible, the best way to do it is to do repairs and install parts without fully discussing it with the pilot/owner (what needs to be done and the options available) and getting approval ahead of time. Its a true no brainer-let the pilot/owner know what repairs are going to cost and get approval before making the repairs. And, hey, with e-mail and text messaging being so easy, it sure doesnt hurt to do it in writing to preserve exactly what was agreed upon.

I have had mechanics tell me that they went ahead because there was a time crunch or they couldnt contact the owner or the owner doesnt have any say in aircraft repairs because the mechanic signs them off. My recommendation for mechanics/shops is to make it clear, in writing, when the aircraft is dropped off that the owner is going to have to approve repairs or that there is a blanket approval up to a certain sum to do repairs, otherwise the mechanic/shop is asking for problems. Also, under the FARs, the owner is the one responsible for repairs, she or he makes the decision as to what is done and what isnt done-and that needs to be done in conjunction with the mechanic because sometimes the owner is not going to agree with the repair the mechanic recommends.

Sign Off

Ive seen owners and mechanics charged with a violation by the FAA because an airplane was flown before the return to service paperwork was prepared by the mechanic. Its been a common practice for an owner to be in a hurry to get going after maintenance and take the airplane before the mechanic has done the paperwork. Too often the mechanic gets side tracked and forgets to do it or there is an incident on that first flight that comes to the FAAs attention.

For pilots and mechanics both: no flight until the logbook entry has been made.

Payment

Ive represented a number of small maintenance shops who have done work for a customer-usually a regular-billed the customer afterward and then didnt get paid. Most of the mechanics have told me that it was a regular practice because they wanted to keep their customers happy. The problem is that it sometimes costs the mechanic more to collect from the deadbeat than the amount of the bill.

My recommendation for mechanics/shops is to behave as the local auto repair shops do: payment is required for the customer to get the airplane. In many states one of the few ways an aircraft maintenance shop can get a lien for payment for maintenance is to physically hold on to the airplane. Once they let the owner take it, the shop has lost that leverage. Plus, the shop is not licensed as a bank; why should it make loans?

Mechanics, require payment when the airplane is picked up. Pilot/owners, be prepared to pay when you pick up your airplane.

Test Flight

Pilots, mechanics are human, they can make mistakes. Thats why the first flight after maintenance is a higher than normal risk flight. On those flights Ive had a main gear only partially retract and a total electrical system failure. A friend had the right main of his Saratoga SP jam in the up position due to an improperly re-installed gear door. Ive looked at any number of accident reports involving first flight after maintenance departures into IMC and/or at night in which there was a crash because of something that had been done wrong during maintenance.

A safety suggestion: once the paperwork is done, make a solo, day, VFR flight before doing anything more ambitious with the airplane-especially before putting your family in it.

Postflight Inspection

Anyone who has flown for any length of time has experienced the broken-airplane-on-Friday-afternoon-with-the-family syndrome. A number of mechanics that I respect have told me that many of such problems involved something that actually broke on the previous flight. They suggest, and I agree, that a postflight inspection may be more important than a preflight inspection because it may catch a problem and give you lots of time to get it fixed so you can launch on Friday afternoon. A friend of mine is a former astronaut; Ive noticed that he always does a postflight inspection on his Bonanza-I figure he knows what hes doing.

While the idea may make some pilots uncomfortable, mechanics I respect also suggest a mag check just before starting your descent for landing. The ignition system is most stressed at altitude and a mag check before letting down is more likely to uncover an incipient problem than a mag check prior to takeoff. It also gives you time to get the problem fixed before you want to go flying again.

Pilot/owners and mechanic/shops benefit each other. If history is any indication, both sides making an effort to communicate effectively and recognize that nobody is perfect will go a long way towards making the process of aircraft maintenance go smoothly and efficiently.

Rick Durden is an aviation attorney who has represented mechanics and pilots and is the author of the The Thinking Pilots Flight Manual or, How to Survive Flying Little Airplanes and Have a Ball Doing it, Vol. I.

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