The Eagle Lake Accident
The Eagle lake accident is plane crash incident that took place in 1991 with a fatality of all the 14 people on board. It is attributed to failure of the continental express airline maintenance crew to undertake a scheduled maintenance procedure correctly. According to witnesses, the planes left wing disintegrated before the plane crashed on the ground: the same wing that after investigation was left loose during the maintenance procedure. The report by the NTSB cite poor communication between the individuals involved with the maintenance procedure and the failure to follow set shift turnover procedures as the major causes for the accident. The safety board report also states that there were many people involved during the maintenance period as well as during the shift turnover that highly contributed to the communication break-down.
The article brings out the point that, effective communication and coordination between the various shifts in maintenance goes a long way in ensuring the procedure runs smoothly and the risk of failure is highly reduced. The timing of the arrival of third-shift supervisor according to the report was early which is why the second-shift supervisor might not have had enough time to review and document their progress. For instance, the second-shift inspector who was responsible for removing screws on both stabilizers failed to give a complete report to the third-shift inspector who took over. After the accident, industries took to ensuring procedures set for shift turn-overs are followed and that details passed on from one shift to another are well documented and confirmed by the relevant personnel. In spite of this adjustments, there has been a report of similar occurrence but disciplinary actions were taken and policies put in place to ensure reckless individuals are dealt with.