Some hefty and robust mice found on the plane of a private airline is a very serious and highly hazardous matter
RAWALPINDI: Some hefty and robust mice were found on the plane of a private airline recently. This is a very serious and highly hazardous matter. Rodents are known to relish gnawing at and chewing upon the plastic outer covering of cables, thus rendering the inside current-carrying conductors bare, which can cause short-circuiting. There is no dearth of such wires and cables running all over the aircraft. Some of these wires carry high voltages that are used to power lights, fans, kitchen appliances, motors and air-conditioning. Other cables carry low voltages for a plethora of highly sensitive and crucial communication and navigational gadgets. Any short-circuiting of the higher voltage-carrying wires could ignite a fire. Short-circuiting of the other wires and cables can put the vital avionics and flying apparatuses out of order.
Nothing could be more dangerous for both the plane and the passengers than any of the above situations. All wiring and cabling of the plane is concealed but once the presence of a rodent is established in an aircraft, no matter for how small a period, no one can say for sure that none of the wires have been damaged. The entire cable network and harnesses have got to be thoroughly checked and tested to ensure that no short-circuiting occurs in the future. That means grounding the plane while it is examined thoroughly. I sincerely hope the airline will do that and not just get rid of the mice before putting the plane in use again.
Colonel (retd)Riaz Jafri
Published in The Express Tribune, February 18th, 2016.
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