[Jeff Higgins]

No, I wasn't on that particular trip. That's a very good synopsis of what we do, though.

My specific responsibilities include all of the tooling we use on these repairs; both designing it and assisting in its use. I also take care of the jacking and shoring, both designing the equipment we do that with and then applying and monitoring the loads on it when we are on site. I design and assist in the use of any alignment or locating tooling, and monitor the alignment of the aircraft as the mechanics remove damaged structure and rebuild the affected areas.

I actually use surveyors' equipment (transits and optical levels) to monitor the state of the airframe during the repair, adjusting loads on the various jacking points to maintain alignment. The aircraft are equipped with what we call "golden rivets" that are located at specific station, waterline, and buttline values. We "shoot" these in optically as our alignment references.

In this kind of a mishap, the aircraft will often suffer damage to landing gear mounting trunnions, control surface hinges and tracks, and engine pylon mounting points. While we replace the gear, control surfaces, and pylons as necessary, there are also some pretty big fittings, clevises, trunnions, and the like from which all of this stuff hangs that also have to be replaced or repaired. Upon replacement or repair of these mounting points we wind up having to bore them in place on the aircraft to ensure final alignment; I design this equipment and assist in its use as well.

Oh, and if it ran off the runway like this one, I'm also responsible for the equipment that we use to recover the aircraft. Not the actual tugs and cranes and stuff, but the method of attachment to the aircraft.

It's really pretty fun stuff for a hopeless tinkerer like me. I get to work "hands on" in the field, which is effectively precluded by the mechanic's union rules at home in the factory. We get to be pretty creative sometimes, and no two jobs are the same. On top of that, I've traveled the world on Boeing's dime. Doesn't get much better than that.