Amazing. There is one logical thinker out there!

Perhaps we have a different perspective on things. You mention "I am entitled to the faithful performance blah blah blah..... Its on him blah blah blah". I fly a lot of rented private aircraft and they are serviced by highly regulated licensed mechanics that also make mistakes. You can be as "entitled" as you want to be but if something breaks in the air and your unable to deal with the problem the laws of physics are rather unforgiving. Your terminal velocity can become quite terminal when you run out of altitude.

People make mistakes. People also have feelings and emotions as well. How would you react if someone was very angry and even politely suggested that your mistake "almost killed them" and that you performed poorly in your job? Instead of asking the mechanic to take a look at the car the original poster played the victim and dropped the "you almost killed me" card. Do you think he is trying to help the other owners here by having us avoid a certain evil mechanic or is he trying to exact some revenge to make the sting of having to pay for a repair job twice less harsh?

I do have some sympathy for the original poster as it always irritating to have to repair your car more than once and its always scary to have those surprises on the roadway. Im not sure how the dramatic story and the "you get em bud" pat on the back e-mails really benefits anyone involved though. The guy still has to pay for this repair again and perhaps more if there was any additional damage done. With a bit of diplomacy this situation could still work out better for the original poster in the long run. Food for thought.

Exactly- what if that something that breaks in the air can be traced back to the mechanic who last signed off on the craft? And what if the FAA investigation rules out pilot error and fingers mechanic error? By your thinking we should all just forgive and forget. Diplomatic right? Sorry, the mechanic should have his ass removed, especially if his mistake kills somebody.
People DO make mistakes, and just because we are all imperfect and do make mistakes; that does not exonerate any of us or make it OK to **** up.
Accountability I suppose, going by the posts on this thread, is a quality only a few are born with and cannot be learned.
Say I screw up on the structurals with a building I am designing. Structure collapses and kills people. Should I just try your 'nobody's perfect' shrug-and-roll-eyes approach to redress my screwup? Won't work. It was my mistake and you can bet your ass I'll be the one paying for it. The attorneys will dismantle the process I took one piece at a time and conclude that the whole thing was my fault. Nobody will come up with your 'oh give him a break' BS. No breaks will be given. Millions in damages will be paid, I'll lose my license, and the is a chance of jail time. Ever hear of Criminal Negligence?
Correct me if I'm wrong, but what you contend is that mistakes will be made come what may. I agree with that. You also seem to contend that it's OK to make these mistakes. I don't agree. You also seem to say that the owner's being a crybaby for complaining about poor quality work that he paid in good faith to have done. I don't agree.
Sorry but professionals from all walks basically have a bullseye on their back, and they need to learn how to live with that fact. If you don't want to be responsible for anything you do go work at Wal-Mart.

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'02 BMW 325i
'85 300D 450k
'93 190E 2.6 170k(killed by tree)
'08 Ducati Hypermotard 1100S 6k
'06 Ducati S2R800 14k(sold)

I agree. I don't understand why people think ultimate responsibility always lies with YOU. It doesn't. You ARE ultimately responsible for YOUR actions. But you are NOT ultimately responsible for the actions of OTHERS. We can't be an expert in every field. That is why we pay people for their expertise. Those people MUST be accountable for THEIR actions. That mechanic should be ashamed of his response.

Scott

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Scott
1982 Mercedes 240D, 4 speed, 275,000
1988 Porsche 944 Turbo S (70,000)
1987 Porsche 911 Coupe 109,000 (sold)
1998 Mercedes E300 TurboDiesel 147,000 (sold)
1985 Mercedes 300D 227,000 (totaled by inattentive driver with no insurance!)
1997 Mercedes E300 Diesel 236,000 (sold)
1995 Ducati 900SS (sold)
1987 VW Jetta GLI 157,000 (sold)
1986 Camaro 125,000 (sold - P.O.S.)
1977 Corvette L82 125,000 (sold)
1965 Pontiac GTO 15,000 restored (sold)

I know you didn't quote me on this but just to be clear I am not trying to say any of this and I don't read it into other people's intent either.

I think everyone agees that the mechanic screwed-up and is accountable but forming a posse to go out and lynch him is a little too much. The mechanic was wrong and when he had the chance to make it right he blew that too. But it happened and nothing can change that. All you can do is live and learn and try to do better.

The comparison to buildings is off because driving is inherently dangerous and buildings are built for security, protection and comfort. Every time you sit behind the wheel you are taking risks and assuming the liability included.

My own family member left the lug nuts on my first car too loose but when I heard something hitting the hubcap I stopped and found the problem. I knew they were trying to do me a favor, not kill me, and haven't given it much thought in the three decades since, maybe I should, that bastard. Since, when someone else tightens my lug nuts, I check them. Not just to make sure that they are tight enough but to make sure that I can get them off if I have a flat.

Agreed. Can't be lynching on mechanics or nobody will bother making that a career choice. I respect the mechanic I infrequently take my car to, and don't ever want to be in the spot where I have to blame him for screwing up, but you know something- he'll at least own up to it and fix his mistake. That much I do know about him. Somebody that tries to deflect blame that is very obviously theirs is a total goofball and should be punished.

Being an architect based in DC I can tell you that your assumption that all buildings are quote unquote safe is perhaps a little optimistic. The intent is there; health, safety, and welfare and all that that entails, etc. It all depends on how responsible the guy designing things was and how serious he took his task and how accountable he is. Doesn't matter he could be Atticus Finch AIA and he'd still get his ass removed if he made a critical error in design. Design of reinforced concrete ain't rocket science but it ain't a walk-in-the-park-with-your-eyes-closed endeavor either. You got to pay attention, just like you have to pay attention if you're working on my brakes. Pay attention now or pay the price later.

__________________
'02 BMW 325i
'85 300D 450k
'93 190E 2.6 170k(killed by tree)
'08 Ducati Hypermotard 1100S 6k
'06 Ducati S2R800 14k(sold)

I was getting at good proceedure more than "fairness." I have submitted MORE THAN ONE example of and FAA APPROVED (STCd) item or proceedure that was anywhere from slightly faulty to WRONG and deadly wrong in some cases. (example below) When the FAA decides they are right, laws of physics DO NOT apply. My point being a check and double check would have eliminated "..shoddy work.." causing potential for death.

DONT get me wrong, enforcements are good where required but I'm far from calling the FAA "fair"

Example: the American Aviation "Yankee" and "Trainer" (PRE Grumman buy out)

Look up the FAA APPROVED output cable from the alternator (*hint* the guage of the cable itself). THEN look up amp rating of said cable in both bundle and air. Can anyone guess what happens to this STCd replacement???

There have been fires and when last I looked one death. When submitting this , the response I got was frightening. Bureaucracy trumps engineering?? Hardly, the answer should always be "do it right" regardless of shop policy or g'ovt FARs. BTW my plane now has a cable or two that are slightly thicker than the "STC approved" ones. When a condition exists that the owner, pilot, A&P and I/A are the same person (FAA will tell you in the FARs this is not possible) fewer questions are asked.

Lucky Dog. Lotta work to get there.

I don't own 100% so I kind of "cheat" BUT - US (Uncle Sugar) paid for a good deal of it and the step dad and a life long friend are both IPs. You're right - you still have to do book work even if the Army pays you to be there.

Unless you are a Aircraft mechanic (are you?) then you don't know what you are talking about, i don't care if you spent 45 yrs hanging around airports it does not qualfied at anything other than the job you were doing, Pilot, Baggage handles, janitor. If the items you describe above are real, then there has to be a AMM (Aircraft Maintenace Manual) procedure for the sign off, any item signed off in a Log book has to ref the AMM procedure that was used in correcting the item.

Complaint: right engine low on power - solution: install left engine with lower power to match
Just because the Right engine was wrote up does not mean its the problem,more than likely the Left was over powered, Not a uncommon problem

Complaint: right engine fuel flow reading low - solution: recalibrate fuel flow meter.
some Fuel flow meters can be calibrated some has to be replaced.
Again Just because i hang out in my front lawn does not make me a gardener.

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1979 300D.

The content, form and disposition of aircraft maintenance records is specified in 14 CFR 43.9. This paragraph makes no mention af any requirement that a logbook entry contain any reference to a Maintenance Manual procedure.

Those two examples were related to me by an airline maintenance manager who was also an A&P of many years. Maybe he lied. It doesn't take take an A&P to relate a story as told. I never worked for an airline. I can tell many such stories but those were easy and I don't like typing so much. The plane with the engine swap ended up with two 80% engines.

Would you believe that airliners were often loaded over rated capacity?

Paperwork is great when you are reading in a cozy chair. Unfortunately in the real world paperwork is often pushed as requested and relates little of what actually took place. Anything you write can be used against you, and if something does go wrong scapegoats are always in demand.

I find it amusing how often people want to personally discredit me, run some searches for diesel purge. I should change my name to AdHominem.

Hmmm.... Are you Japanese by chance? Rather commit suicide if you make a mistake rather than shame your family? People and the world we live in are imperfect. Regardless of how hard you try you can't change those two constants of the universe.

I think we have to be somewhat realistic about what we are talking about here. A car and a quite well built one as well. No one is being crushed by tons of concrete or being burned alive by 110LL aircraft fuel gushing out of snapped wing tanks here. Just a well built car that even in a rather heavy collision would protect its occupants from danger just like it was designed to.

Being realistic again (I know twice in one day it's difficult) the original writers message was quite sensationalistic. "I was almost killed" If you look at the facts no accident happened due to the mechanic's mistake just a bit of inconvenience. Again I raise the question of the writers original intent with his message. Was it to inform us about this psychopath mechanic that goes out of his way to rig your car to fail so he can laugh at you when you call him back? Or perhaps it was for just old fashioned revenge?

Im not going to add any more fuel to the fire of our debate here. If your one of those people that think screaming and being an jerk to your mechanic is a great way to get him to help you more power to you. I have found that appealing to a person's empathy and logic is a better way of approaching a problem solving situation. When people are put in a defensive situation they do just that defend themselves. For someone with a legal liability denying any negligence is their only defense.

Complaint: Turn Coordinator remains in center during turns. Solution: Congratulations on mastering the rudder.

Nice one rchase.

I'm Irish if you must know and I love a good fight. If you don't want to add fuel to the fire then don't post crap like that. Little smileys don't help, it's still a provocation that threatens to derail the debate at hand.

You can live your life any sloppy which way you wish. For my money I demand quality. Last I heard I was allowed to demand quality. At $100 per hour, you can bet your balls that's what I want. And if I don't get it, well I do have recourse now don't I. I am sorry to have to inform you of this. We're not talking about some dumbass that crossthreaded the oil drain plug, we're talking about a failure on the part of the PAID technician to repair my BRAKES which has to do with my ability to STOP THE CAR to avoid KILLING MYSELF OR OTHERS. Dude- you just don't **** with that, so your cavalier attitude toward it I find patently offensive.

__________________
'02 BMW 325i
'85 300D 450k
'93 190E 2.6 170k(killed by tree)
'08 Ducati Hypermotard 1100S 6k
'06 Ducati S2R800 14k(sold)