A survey of aircraft maintenance engineers suggested many pilots only reported faults such as brake fluid leaks and loss of cabin pressure after the day's flights or their homebound flight. The delay allowed airlines to fix faults at a more convenient time, avoiding extra expense, The Independent newspaper said today.
According to the report, on an average, 80 to 90 per cent of faults were reported after a pilot had made a homebound flight or after the end of the day's flying schedule. The situation was the same across major and budget airlines.
Aircraft Engineers International (AEI), the world body of 45,000 aviation maintenance engineers, asked its members to make voluntary inspections of airliner logbooks, containing all information on a plane's faults and when they were reported.
One engineer examined 40 logbooks involving more than 3,000 flights, and found that 90 per cent of defects were reported after the homebound flight or at the end of the day, the report in the British daily said.
"We are positive that if regulators examined logbooks in the way we have, they will discover exactly the same pattern of late reporting," said Fred Bruggeman, the AEI's secretary general.
He said said their shocking lack of response makes it clear to us that "they do not want to open Pandora's Box".
Frank Taylor, an air accident investigator, said that the logbook check had uncovered a "worrying finding".
"We fear regulators had become too cosy with the aviation industry and are not taking our safety concerns seriously enough," Bruggeman underlined.
