The new guy asked why I torque lavatory door latches to spec instead of just snugging them, and I had to sit with that | Avionics Technicians - nhfree.com
The new guy asked why I torque lavatory door latches to spec instead of just snugging them, and I had to sit with that
Was doing a latch check on a 737 aft lav last Tuesday when the new hire watched me pull out the torque wrench and asked why I bother when "snug plus a quarter turn" has worked for him so far. I told him about the time in 2019 when a latch that felt tight on the ground popped open at 3,000 feet over Amarillo because the striker plate was 4 inch-pounds under spec and the vibration walked the screw loose. He shrugged and said the plane would just pressurize fine anyway, which is true right up until it isn't. What got me is that I used to think the same way for my first two years, and the only thing that changed my mind was a logbook entry someone else had to write. So I made him redo all four latches with the wrench and sign the task card himself. Any of you got a go-to story that actually lands with the snug-it-and-move-on crowd, or do some guys just have to learn it the hard way?