mechanic’s mistake - how to handle

[Pinecone]

12 hours ago, Aerodon said:

So I had an excavator operator hit a gas line 5 minutes after I told him exactly where it was.  There was a sorry, but nothing more than that.  Cost me $3k, and I was the client not the contractor.  Think of how many flat screen TV's that is.

 

Aerodon

Locally, it is on the contractor to call Miss Utility and have lines marked.  If they don't, they are entirely responsible for any line damage.

If they do, and the line is not where it was marked, then the marking company or utility is on the hook.

[Shadrach]

6 hours ago, MikeOH said:

That’s a distinct possibility

I don't think any FSDO in their right mind would go after an owner for not catching a credentialed mechanic's incorrect installation of a magneto.  Especially given that said magneto was operating in a way that did not reveal it was improperly installed. If said owner discovered an operational anomaly and chose to continue flight despite the evidence there was a problem, then the owner is culpable. That is not the case in this situation.  I know of more than one aircraft that was returned to service with the wrong rings installed in the pistons (happens enough to border on urban legend).  An aircraft with the wrong rings installed is most certainly unairworthy, but an owner could not know nor intend to operate the aircraft as unairworthy.  There are limits to what an operator can be expected to know from a regulatory standpoint.  In the case of an accident caused by a maintenance related failure, that won't make the owner any less dead, but the responsibility should fall on whoever's signature is in the maintenance log.   Everyone likes to beat up on the FAA. Sometimes with good reason. I have been guilty of it myself.  However, the characterizations of the FAA in this discussion border on fantasy.

[kortopates]

15 hours ago, jaylw314 said:

@kortopates isn't wrong in the sense that for the preflight, there's no mechanic there, so you're the only one responsible for inspecting the plane THAT DAY.  Not a lawyer, but I suspect the mechanic isn't off the hook if there's an accident unless it was a defect reasonably detectable on the preflight inspection recommended in the POH.

Good logic but its more than that.

As pilots/owner/operator we're responsible for the regs under part 91, that means we're responsible for ensuring we have all the paper work in order before flight, including ARROW + placards, log book entries for current annual inspection, AD compliance etc, and including the harder ones like in-op equipment that has  to be placarded, rendered in-op/disabled or removed with a log book entry. But we're not responsible for the maintenance performed by a licensed mechanic. We just have have to have the return to service log book entry before we fly it. The FSDO is not going to go after the owner because the mechanic screwed up unless its brought to our attention and we chose to fly it knowing it wasn't right. So we have to make sure all the required inspections get done and signed off, but we're not responsible for ensuring the mechanic is doing it properly - that's the FSDO's oversight job.