Two days for a washer, on a C-130 cargo door latch

We had a bird strike last Tuesday and the cargo door latch wouldn't seat right after the inspection. Turned out a tiny rubber washer, part number was worn out of the book, had swelled and jammed the linkage. I spent two full shifts pulling the panel, checking the actuator, and even the pressure seal before I found it by accident when I bumped the lever. Anyone else have a part that small eat up a whole day for you, or am I just the slow one in the hangar?

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1 Comment

the_willow20d ago

Did you at least get a free sticker or a patch out of that washer? Because honestly, that's the kind of part that should come with a warning label saying "I will ruin your week" in tiny letters. I once lost a whole afternoon to a click I could hear but not find, turned out to be a loose screw the size of a grain of rice. You're not slow, you're just the unlucky one who gets to play detective while the part laughs at you from inside the panel. At least you found it before it turned into a bigger problem, though. Tbh, the real lesson here is that the smallest stuff always has the biggest ego.