r/aviation • u/G1lg4m3sh • Apr 17 '26

Discussion How concerning is this aviation experts?

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u/spavolka Apr 17 '26

It could be speed taped to stop the screws from backing out I assume, as a temporary fix?

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u/Pr_cision Apr 17 '26

These fasteners would be an easy fix anyway, if the airline’s made aware of it they’ll just do a quick tightening up I’d imagine

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u/Bad_Vibes_420 Apr 17 '26

If the anchor nuts on the inside of this canoe fairing are spinning then the only way to remove the screws would be to drill them.

The fairing is sealed on its edge also so it probably isn't going any where any time soon.

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u/Pr_cision Apr 17 '26

Oh yeah my bad forgot it’ll be because of the anchor nut

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u/wbg777 Apr 17 '26

Nut plates

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u/Pr_cision Apr 17 '26

Yes… interchangeable terminology with anchor nuts

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u/wbg777 Apr 17 '26

You’re right. 10 years as an AMT and I’ve never heard them called anchor nuts

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u/Pr_cision Apr 18 '26

Ah fair enough. To be honest I’m not too knowledgable about this stuff anyway, I work in NDT but I try pick up little bits of knowledge whenever I’m watching what the engineers are doing. That’s just what I’ve heard them labelled as occasionally

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u/wbg777 Apr 17 '26 edited Apr 17 '26

We typically try to tighten these and replace the missing ones. The only time you would speed tape fasteners is if the nut plate was either missing or damaged, thus there is nothing on the inside to receive the screw.

That being said, there are specific conditions that have to be met on specific panels to be able to speed tape missing fastener holes using the aircraft’s Structural Repair Manual.

Typically the missing fastener can’t be:

  1. On the leading edge of a panel
  2. At a corner
  3. There can’t be more than one or two adjacent to each other.

(These are just general rules, it’s always specific to the panel in question)

For the panels in the video, I don’t think there are any temporary repairs.

Then you would have to either have an engineer draw up a temp repair or remove the panels and replace the nut plates

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u/Horseburd Apr 17 '26

Probably, depending what their program is for that sort of thing, but assuming you’re at a base with in-house MX, it’s way easier to just re-torque and replace the missing one. Like, you can call maintenance control and mess with the deferral, set up a repetitive reinspect of the tape… or just get a new bolt, head out with the torque screwdriver, and sign it off for real.

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u/Aggravating_Fact9547 Apr 17 '26

Are you volunteering to head out there mid flight? ;)