Inside A British Airways Boeing 747-436 D-Check
All aircraft undergo routine maintenance checks at specific life cycle intervals, these checks range from a light A-Check through a heavy D-Check.
An A-Check for a commercial aircraft is typically performed around 800 flight hour cycle and often conducted during an overnight layover at an airport, requiring 20 man-hours maintenance. The B-Check is conducted approximately every six months, requiring two or three days in a hangar and 150 man-hours of maintenance. C-Checks are more comprehensive maintenance checks, required every 16-to-20 months of flight service, requiring a complete inspection of the entire aircraft, typically requiring more than a week of maintenance and at times more than 5,000 man hours of maintenance.
The most extensive maintenance check is the D-check. The D-Check is a heavy maintenance check and must be undertaken roughly every five years. During a D-Check, an aircraft is completely torn down for overhaul, taking an aircraft out of service for a month, or longer, requiring approximately 40,000 man hours of maintenance.
So … what does a D-Check look like for a Jumbo Jet? The video below is a one-hour look inside the process of a British Airways Boeing 747-436 undergoing a D-check, explained in non-technical jargon, making it idea for adults and children alike.
Put your feet up, call the kids around and enjoy a look inside the complex process of overhauling The Queen Of The Skies.
Happy Flying!
