Airplane Heavy Maintenance - Mega Pit Stops

Mega Pit Stops - Airplane Heavy Maintenance - Airbus A330-300
At Lufthansa Technik Malta, 700 hidden figures keep aviation the safest way to travel. The highly trained team specializes in aircraft safety checks and overhauls. They inspect and repair fleets from airlines around the world. The ultimate Mega Pitstop!

Their recent project: Kilo Romeo - An Airbus A330-300. Effort of this Pitstop: 25.000 manhours. Time is a crucial issue, as Kilo Romeo is already scheduled for the next flight. From now on the team only has 40 days to deliver a good as new aircraft.

The whole cabin gets stripped down. Engineers remove, check, repair and reinstall millions of pieces. Seats, kitchen- and bathroom monuments, wall and floor panels. In multiple workshops specialists refurbish every single item – racing against a tight schedule. Once all parts of the cabin are completely dismantled, inspectors check and overhaul every inch of the aircraft’s base structure. The steel frame, isolation and dozens of kilometers of cable. Not a single screw stays unchecked.

At the same time another unit scans the plane’s exterior for damages. Especially the sides and roof often get seriously hit by lightning strikes and need to be patched. Mechanics also cautiously take off and refurbish the six tons Rolls Royce engines. From the wings to deep into the fuel tanks: The engineers review every security relevant parts – multiple times. To make sure the passengers are safe. A fascinating and rare insight – only on Mega Pit Stops!