Southwest Airlines. Photo courtesy of Kevin Dooley via flickr.
Recently, Southwest grounded 128 Boeing 737s that missed mandatory inspections of backup hydraulic systems used to control the rudder in case the plane’s main hydraulic system fails. This is one of a number of maintenance-related incidents for which the airline has been under scrutiny. Others include failing to properly fix fuselage panels and having a hole in the roof of an older aircraft, which sounds pretty terrifying.
Cases like this make you wonder, when you’re sitting idle for an extra 30 minutes as flight attendants tell you they’re just doing their “final checks,” what’s really going on before takeoff? According to Timothy Griffin, pilot and founder of FlyHome, LLC, a lot.
- First comes the exterior preflight walk, inspecting tire pressure, hydraulic lines, flight control surfaces, aircraft lighting and the overall surface of the aircraft to make sure there is nothing that could affect airflow.
- Next comes the interior preflight check, which in modern times is done mainly via a computer that checks the Traffic Collision Avoidance System (to make sure pilots stay away from other aircraft), Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System (to warn of altitude conflicts), fuel system, pressurization system, etc.
- Weather conditions, which goes beyond checking the weather channel, must also be evaluated. At the departure airport, wind, visibility, cloud height above ground, barometric pressure and precipitation all must be analyzed.
- Pilots then look at conditions en route, such as the Jetstream. Head winds mean more fuel, while flights lucky enough to have a tailwind won’t require as much.
- And if you’ve ever wondered what it means when the purser says, “flight attendants, doors to arrival and crosscheck,” it’s staff re-checking each other, verifying disarming of the emergency escape slides attached to the doors.
And before airplanes even make it onto the runway, they undergo a number of rigorous tests, from having dead birds thrown into the engine (which has to be one of the most highly sought-after jobs) — even a small bird can cause engine failure taxiing through water — to operating the plane in freezing conditions, and having the plane work through simulated weather conditions like rain, ice, wind and clouds.
