Sean McPherson
@seanmcp.bsky.social
Tired of the bird insanity. 1st modem was an acoustic coupler. Burning Man since ‘93. LVL1 Makerspace 10+ years. Planning more narrowboat time on the UK canals! Also now seanmcp.pixelfed.social to replace the ol’ Insta feed.
Curious about the cycle count in 2021 when the last ‘good’ inspection would have been done. Sounds like nothing was ‘obvious’ with it 3 weeks prior when lubrication was done as all this stuff is contiguous. I’m sure the interviews w/ mechanics will be detailed and specific! Maybe photos were taken?!
November 21, 2025 at 2:30 AM
Curious about the cycle count in 2021 when the last ‘good’ inspection would have been done. Sounds like nothing was ‘obvious’ with it 3 weeks prior when lubrication was done as all this stuff is contiguous. I’m sure the interviews w/ mechanics will be detailed and specific! Maybe photos were taken?!
Hopefully not “I’ve got a great idea! Let’s use a forklift to swap this; way faster and easier to do the whole shebang and simpler than that hoist!”. 90k hours, but still 7k cycles before next major inspection on this set of brackets (which this plane would have never seen, w/ 21k in 34 years).
November 21, 2025 at 2:28 AM
Hopefully not “I’ve got a great idea! Let’s use a forklift to swap this; way faster and easier to do the whole shebang and simpler than that hoist!”. 90k hours, but still 7k cycles before next major inspection on this set of brackets (which this plane would have never seen, w/ 21k in 34 years).
I haven’t had a chance to read the entire report yet (will do tonight) but I’d expect that N259UP was close to 100k flight hours? Doubt if there’s a good table online of hours per airframe on the 60-ish MD-11 remaining. May be bigger concern for replacing several fire tankers (KC-10/DC-10 mods)
November 20, 2025 at 7:25 PM
I haven’t had a chance to read the entire report yet (will do tonight) but I’d expect that N259UP was close to 100k flight hours? Doubt if there’s a good table online of hours per airframe on the 60-ish MD-11 remaining. May be bigger concern for replacing several fire tankers (KC-10/DC-10 mods)
Monster in motivational poster form!
November 20, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Monster in motivational poster form!
It’s all a series of tubes.
November 20, 2025 at 6:55 PM
It’s all a series of tubes.
But different from AA191 as that was due to maintenance procedure damage. I would expect even prelim report would mention some of damage telltales from those AA/Continental mounts stressed during hoisting; only a mention of fatigue cracking (no bend/impact) implies maybe a new failure mode observed?
November 20, 2025 at 6:53 PM
But different from AA191 as that was due to maintenance procedure damage. I would expect even prelim report would mention some of damage telltales from those AA/Continental mounts stressed during hoisting; only a mention of fatigue cracking (no bend/impact) implies maybe a new failure mode observed?
One report I’ve seen showed FA put >400k flight hours on *7* MD11s from 1990-2010 so AVG hours per frame was obviously high. They may have the best data on flight hour impact on these components.
November 20, 2025 at 6:49 PM
One report I’ve seen showed FA put >400k flight hours on *7* MD11s from 1990-2010 so AVG hours per frame was obviously high. They may have the best data on flight hour impact on these components.
Be very interesting to see if FinnAir MD11’s made it thru way more hours/cycles than these still in service. If so, what’s different (or will investigation reveal inspection issues). Fatigue cracks are sneaky especially on parts that don’t come off much. But these pylons are known risk elements 🤷♂️
November 20, 2025 at 6:46 PM
Be very interesting to see if FinnAir MD11’s made it thru way more hours/cycles than these still in service. If so, what’s different (or will investigation reveal inspection issues). Fatigue cracks are sneaky especially on parts that don’t come off much. But these pylons are known risk elements 🤷♂️
This pylon & assembly has been the focus of some pretty serious review since ‘79 crash. That a new failure occurred 1000s of hours before the next major inspection is prolly why grounding was sudden & wide. Unsure how many 11’s of 60 left have hit 28k+ hrs recently. FinnAir flew wings off theirs!
November 20, 2025 at 6:42 PM
This pylon & assembly has been the focus of some pretty serious review since ‘79 crash. That a new failure occurred 1000s of hours before the next major inspection is prolly why grounding was sudden & wide. Unsure how many 11’s of 60 left have hit 28k+ hrs recently. FinnAir flew wings off theirs!
“Elevator for scale”
November 20, 2025 at 6:31 PM
“Elevator for scale”
Ah.
Maybe plastic over gloves? 🧤
Like the poly food service gloves.
Or decent but large rubber gloves…
I may need to put a couple different pairs of mine on and see if I can find the right size of disposable poly gloves (or heavier duty rubber gloves) to cover them and send you some info
Maybe plastic over gloves? 🧤
Like the poly food service gloves.
Or decent but large rubber gloves…
I may need to put a couple different pairs of mine on and see if I can find the right size of disposable poly gloves (or heavier duty rubber gloves) to cover them and send you some info
November 19, 2025 at 6:19 PM
Ah.
Maybe plastic over gloves? 🧤
Like the poly food service gloves.
Or decent but large rubber gloves…
I may need to put a couple different pairs of mine on and see if I can find the right size of disposable poly gloves (or heavier duty rubber gloves) to cover them and send you some info
Maybe plastic over gloves? 🧤
Like the poly food service gloves.
Or decent but large rubber gloves…
I may need to put a couple different pairs of mine on and see if I can find the right size of disposable poly gloves (or heavier duty rubber gloves) to cover them and send you some info
One of my first true PCs was MFM, so same pins, might as well do both at once!
November 19, 2025 at 5:36 PM
One of my first true PCs was MFM, so same pins, might as well do both at once!
I love fun nerdy hardware hacks for useful stuff.
November 19, 2025 at 5:33 PM
I love fun nerdy hardware hacks for useful stuff.
Poor Ted, relegated to the “cheap knockoff bin” 😆 Glad he’s warm!
Have you considered USB pack heated gloves? When I’m outside for hours in winters here (especially well below zero F) they make a difference.
Have you considered USB pack heated gloves? When I’m outside for hours in winters here (especially well below zero F) they make a difference.
November 19, 2025 at 5:28 PM
Poor Ted, relegated to the “cheap knockoff bin” 😆 Glad he’s warm!
Have you considered USB pack heated gloves? When I’m outside for hours in winters here (especially well below zero F) they make a difference.
Have you considered USB pack heated gloves? When I’m outside for hours in winters here (especially well below zero F) they make a difference.
Just put Makuna on your heat like a warm fuzzy hat 🐶 🎩
November 19, 2025 at 2:58 PM
Just put Makuna on your heat like a warm fuzzy hat 🐶 🎩
Now I want to make a “Talking Hades” joke …
November 18, 2025 at 8:21 PM
Now I want to make a “Talking Hades” joke …
Alexa, play “Burning Down The House”
November 18, 2025 at 7:16 PM
Alexa, play “Burning Down The House”
(Ie, I agree 💯 with your comment while simultaneously being sad a different lesson from this event will be lost due to the “well, silly label - huh, no one could have planned for that!” When it’s “Yes. Yes they should have planned for that breaker to trip.”
November 18, 2025 at 6:52 PM
(Ie, I agree 💯 with your comment while simultaneously being sad a different lesson from this event will be lost due to the “well, silly label - huh, no one could have planned for that!” When it’s “Yes. Yes they should have planned for that breaker to trip.”
If the cause had been “a loose bolt caused a cover to rotate, impacting a wire causing an electrical arc that tripped the breaker” it’d have the same outcome, just wouldn’t be a cutesy headline.
Your point is valid throughout, I’m just annoyed that the headline will take away attention to planning!
Your point is valid throughout, I’m just annoyed that the headline will take away attention to planning!
November 18, 2025 at 6:51 PM
If the cause had been “a loose bolt caused a cover to rotate, impacting a wire causing an electrical arc that tripped the breaker” it’d have the same outcome, just wouldn’t be a cutesy headline.
Your point is valid throughout, I’m just annoyed that the headline will take away attention to planning!
Your point is valid throughout, I’m just annoyed that the headline will take away attention to planning!
Procedural / training wise, this label was ‘a’ cause but any event resulting in the operation of that breaker (age, water, factory defect, an actual fault) would have had this same result & that’s the bigger issue. The breaker may have valid reasons to trip & this should not have been the outcome.
November 18, 2025 at 6:49 PM
Procedural / training wise, this label was ‘a’ cause but any event resulting in the operation of that breaker (age, water, factory defect, an actual fault) would have had this same result & that’s the bigger issue. The breaker may have valid reasons to trip & this should not have been the outcome.
Oh, shoot. Sorry if it sounded like I was saying you were calling CRT out - I was just throwing that data out for context as it was early enough in the outage it wasn’t as covered news yet. Short form internet posting problems! Absolutely good to let folks know about obstacles and obstructions!
November 18, 2025 at 6:38 PM
Oh, shoot. Sorry if it sounded like I was saying you were calling CRT out - I was just throwing that data out for context as it was early enough in the outage it wasn’t as covered news yet. Short form internet posting problems! Absolutely good to let folks know about obstacles and obstructions!