The day a seagull's lunch cost us a four-hour delay on a 737 in Portland

We found a half-eaten fish wedged perfectly in the main landing gear uplock assembly, and my lead just looked at it and said, 'Well, I guess he didn't like the bones.'

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3 Comments

young.thomas5mo ago

It's wild how the smallest, dumbest thing can bring a huge system to a halt. I see it at work all the time, where a single stripped screw or a lost clip can stop a whole line. Makes you realize how fragile all our complex stuff really is.

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simon_carr5mo ago

Actually, that's the definition of a single point of failure.

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quinnm775mo ago

That "half-eaten fish wedged perfectly" is such a specific, frustrating image. I can just picture the whole crew standing there, staring at it, knowing the crazy delay it's about to cause. Your lead's comment is the perfect kind of tired, on-the-job humor for that moment.

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