Early in my career, I found a crack on a titanium firewall. I pulled the structural repair manual and there was not a repair for this metal and area. I double-checked with the structural lead.
My manager pressed, just stop-drill it like stainless…
But there wasn’t an approved repair scheme. This wasn’t a stainless cowling or secondary structure. It was the barrier between the engine and the aircraft, the thing designed to contain a catastrophic failure.
So, I pushed back, as uncomfortable as it was, and I told them I needed an approved repair to proceed.
Assertiveness is not aggression or insubordination; it’s speaking up when something isn’t right. It’s standing in a room with people who have more experience, more authority, and saying ‘I can’t proceed with the current information.’
It isn’t a no, it is a pause in a moment that allows everyone to regroup, ensuring that the maintenance is going to be done properly, not only for your certificate, but for the safety of that aircraft. Often, we can come together and think of an alternate to the situation that still maintains safety and integrity.
Assertiveness can be incredibly lonely. When you’re standing there as the only person who won’t let something go, you can start second-guessing yourself. Am I wrong? Am I overreacting? What if this turns out to be nothing? Those doubts are real.
But, at the end of the day, you’re the one who signs off on that work. If that firewall fails and people get hurt, you’re the one that will carry the burden.
How do we find that courage?
Saint Augustine said it: “Wrong is wrong, even if everyone is doing it. Right is right, even if no one is doing it.”
Recognize the pressure:
– Social: Everyone else thinks it’s fine
– Hierarchical: Someone higher is telling you to do it
– Operational: The aircraft needs to fly
Know what you’re protecting:
– Your integrity
– The aircrew and aircraft
Ask for it in writing:
– “Show me the approved repair procedure.”
– “I need to see the engineering disposition.”
Speak up early:
– The longer you wait, the harder it gets. Don’t wait until you’re being pressured to sign off.
“I’m not comfortable with this” is a complete sentence.
For leaders: If someone is pushing back on a call, don’t shut them down. Ask why. Create an environment where your technicians have a voice.
This isn’t just mechanics and inspectors. This is for pilots uncomfortable with the weather, dispatchers who see a deferral that doesn’t sit right, engineers who know the calculation doesn’t add up.
Assertiveness can be the difference between safe and catastrophic.
That firewall was repaired correctly. It could have cost me through relationships or being labeled difficult, but I can live with that. What I couldn’t live with is signing off on something I knew was wrong and reading about it in an accident report.
Part 3 of a 12-part series on the Dirty Dozen in aviation maintenance by Anneke Tucker, originally published on her LinkedIn page. Tucker is an FAA-certificated A&P mechanic, IA, and 23-year aviation maintenance veteran. She is currently a consultant at Attain Aviation, specializing in Part 145 certification, quality systems, workforce development, and human factors in MRO environments.
