Reminders for Safe Maintenance

By Anonymous, VAQ-114

In January 2023, my avionics technician team worked on configuring a newly received ALQ-99 pod with a V-POL antenna in the forward position. This was perceived to be a standard task; however, time constraints, assumptions and a newly modified V-POL would end up causing further issues leading to broken brackets.

First, we started working on the pod without completing any documentation. We rushed into working on the pod because there was a plan in place to move the aircraft out to perform a fuel leak check and low power turn as soon as possible. It wasn’t until a chief walked through the hangar and noticed we were conducting maintenance that I went to the aviation maintenance administrationman shop to fill out the paperwork to reflect the maintenance being performed. The first takeaway from this incident is to always properly document maintenance tasks before executing.

While attempting to put the forward starboard side fasteners into the radome of the ALQ-99 pod, the holes were too low to line up. I had someone push up on the radome to attempt to line them up, and we heard a crunch. We immediately stopped and assessed the situation by removing the ALQ-99 radome to see what was in the way and found the four forward brackets that hold the antenna in place were broken. These were small angled brackets made of fiberglass with five mounting holes on them. After breaking the brackets, we further reviewed the installation instructions and noticed a caution that we had missed. The caution stated to remove the four brackets when configured as the newly modified V-POL. The prior V-POL did not require the brackets be removed, but the newly modified version required them to be removed due to an impact issue. We removed the four brackets and installed the radome. This incident is a perfect example of why it is imperative to read all procedures thoroughly, regardless of time constraints, to ensure proper maintenance is performed.

Afterward, I returned to the shop and put the brackets and hardware in a bag in our parts bin. I didn’t report the broken brackets to maintenance control because, at my previous command, we had a lot of replacement brackets. At the end of the day, I went through the system we use to track pod assets and realized the V-POL we were issued wasn’t showing as received. I emailed the ALQ-99 pod asset manager, and he said we weren’t supposed to receive the V-POL; however, he wanted us to leave it installed on the aircraft. He was notified that we crushed brackets and wanted us to order more. I immediately went to maintenance control to notify them of the situation and got the price of the brackets. Each broken bracket was worth a shocking $7,200. Due to my previous experience with these brackets, I did not anticipate that they would cost so much. Assuming that the broken brackets weren’t a big deal based on my previous experience caused squadron leadership to think I was attempting to hide something. While this was not my intention, I was reminded that the practices of one wing or squadron might not match another. As maintenance professionals, we must continue asking ourselves: Am I still performing this maintenance correctly? Especially when relying solely on your past experiences.

Regardless of any type of maintenance you may find yourself performing in the future, it is always important to properly document, thoroughly prepare and not assume the practices of all commands are the same.