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This one will be hard to top....
At a smaller airport I worked at back in the 80's, the original Frontier airlines had mechanics who used to do everything required on the aircraft overnight so it would be ready for the first flight in the morning. By everything, I mean the maintenance on the A/C as well as the interior cabin cleaning (part of their contract). Well, it would seem that one of the liquor kits was left unlocked and didn't have a tracking plastic tab attached to it (no way to track it without one). Two mechanics decided it would be a good thing to finish cleaning the aircraft, perform the required checks and then party on the airplane until the liquor was gone. At 3A.M. there aren't any flights scheduled in or out so it was a bit unusual when the tower noticed a Frontier airplane powering back the gate (using thrust reversers to back away from the jetway). They couldn't raise anyone on radio using the ground control frequency or the direct tower Freq. on the now taxiing plane so they sent airport security to intercept them. Not certain if the mechanics intended to try to fly the 737-200 or if they were merely out for a joyride, but when whomever was occupying the left seat (Captain's position is the only one with a steering tiller) noticed the airport police, they turned off of the taxiway and into a deep depression that is intended to collect rainwater. The nose gear collapsed and the intakes from both running engines were shoved into the dirt and rocks in that depression. If you've never heard the term FOD before, it stands for 'foreign object damage'...that is a VERY bad thing for a jet engine and they will come completely unglued in microseconds once a foreign object large or solid enough to shatter a compressor blade is ingested. Both engines experienced catastrophic uncontained turbine blade failure (turbine blades shooting through the sides of the engine nacelles and all over hell and back) shortly there after. The fools were lucky in one respect, the wing fuel tanks didn't rupture and the flaming engines went out fairly quickly from all of the dirt they were ingesting.
The aircraft was a write-off, more damage done to the airframe than was worth fixing,43 million dollars down the drain. The engines were leased and prior to becoming scrap metal had been worth about 3 million USD each, the airline was responsible and liable since it was their mechanics who were at the controls when this nonsense took place.
Ever wonder why the ORIGINAL Frontier airlines went bankrupt? That incident had a LOT to do with it because they were also fined huge sums of money by the FAA and the airport authority for the closure of the airport for 36 hours while the remains of what had been a 737 were hauled away for scrap.
At a smaller airport I worked at back in the 80's, the original Frontier airlines had mechanics who used to do everything required on the aircraft overnight so it would be ready for the first flight in the morning. By everything, I mean the maintenance on the A/C as well as the interior cabin cleaning (part of their contract). Well, it would seem that one of the liquor kits was left unlocked and didn't have a tracking plastic tab attached to it (no way to track it without one). Two mechanics decided it would be a good thing to finish cleaning the aircraft, perform the required checks and then party on the airplane until the liquor was gone. At 3A.M. there aren't any flights scheduled in or out so it was a bit unusual when the tower noticed a Frontier airplane powering back the gate (using thrust reversers to back away from the jetway). They couldn't raise anyone on radio using the ground control frequency or the direct tower Freq. on the now taxiing plane so they sent airport security to intercept them. Not certain if the mechanics intended to try to fly the 737-200 or if they were merely out for a joyride, but when whomever was occupying the left seat (Captain's position is the only one with a steering tiller) noticed the airport police, they turned off of the taxiway and into a deep depression that is intended to collect rainwater. The nose gear collapsed and the intakes from both running engines were shoved into the dirt and rocks in that depression. If you've never heard the term FOD before, it stands for 'foreign object damage'...that is a VERY bad thing for a jet engine and they will come completely unglued in microseconds once a foreign object large or solid enough to shatter a compressor blade is ingested. Both engines experienced catastrophic uncontained turbine blade failure (turbine blades shooting through the sides of the engine nacelles and all over hell and back) shortly there after. The fools were lucky in one respect, the wing fuel tanks didn't rupture and the flaming engines went out fairly quickly from all of the dirt they were ingesting.
The aircraft was a write-off, more damage done to the airframe than was worth fixing,43 million dollars down the drain. The engines were leased and prior to becoming scrap metal had been worth about 3 million USD each, the airline was responsible and liable since it was their mechanics who were at the controls when this nonsense took place.
Ever wonder why the ORIGINAL Frontier airlines went bankrupt? That incident had a LOT to do with it because they were also fined huge sums of money by the FAA and the airport authority for the closure of the airport for 36 hours while the remains of what had been a 737 were hauled away for scrap.
up, up and away!
I AM the evil bastard!
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