RE: This is what happens when....
Tom,
I would agree with you if this were a smaller airplane! But to check this you physically have to get on the wing. Have you ever seen a FE or FO with a major airline climb up on the wing and check things. No! Professional pilots walk around with a flashlight maybe, and look to see if all the big pieces are there and there is air in the tires. Now occasionally I do get some pilots that find the most ridiculous things. I attribute that to not wanting to fly. I feel like kicking them square in the sack because there are so many of us that would give up our first born to have their job. One pilot wrote up an inop maintenance bay light in the hell holle. Since it wasn't listed in the operators MEL, he grounded the airplane. Another wrote up the 2" piece of chafe tape on the wing leading edge fairing. Not in MEL, no fly! Most business jet guys dont even check the oil. They simply figure if they have pressure on start and the temp is good during the flight, the level must be ok. I agree that it was a poor pre-flight, and I know what the regs say, but it just doesn't happen. I have a few customers that when there airplane comes out of heavy maintenance, they look over the airplane for about 30min to 1 hour. After start they sit there for another 30 min and check EVERY system. They also do a shake flight. If everything is good they land and gas up and turn and burn. If not back into the barn for some check flight sqks! I'm not blaming the pilot at all. He just assumed and gave credit to the mechanic and maintenance facility. He did a "bang up" job of landing the airplane.
His training payed off in that situation. And a small update on the damage. The engine had to come off and the pylon firewall will need to be replaced. The oil tank has to be replaced along with a fire extinguisher discherge tube. Almost all of the gang drains have to be changed along with an accessory case fire detect element. TR bucket is ok and will need some filler and paint along with a few spots on the fuselage. I'm almost positve that more things will creep up. All this time and money for about 30 seconds of work turning in approx ten camloc's.