Many years ago while working in Paris I bought a Peugeot 305… Do not laugh, I said it was many years ago and what looks to-day like a hopelessly boxy vehicle was a nice new model from the Lion back then. My Dad was worried about the 305’s Latin origins… in his eyes only German workmanship was worth your hard earned cash. I had no such reservations about French cars and in any case, with the diplomatic discount and all, the price was irresistible.
After several thousand miles of faithful service, I noticed in the middle of a really nasty thunderstorm that there was water dripping inside the car into the foot-well of the front passenger. Water coming from below is bad news, it indicates that your chassis is corroded but water dripping from higher up is even worse… that water can find its way into the car’s electrics and then anything can happen. I took the car to a friendly local garage and upon hearing my story, the mechanic on hand produced a foot long, hard wire of some kind and opened the bonnet. He then stuck the wire into a hole partially hidden by the plastic trim and moved it up and down vigorously. He then closed the bonnet and assured me that there would be no more water… he also gave me the wire and suggested that I clean the hole regularly. Apparently the 305’s water-drains were prone to blockage and all you needed to prevent trouble was the little piece of wire which I was the proud owner of now. I remember thinking on the way back to the ICAO office how lucky it was that aircraft were being built better… this could never happen on a 747. I was wrong!
On 7 January 2008, a Boeing 747-400 suffered progressive electrical systems failure during the descent into Bangkok (VTBS), losing all but one bus bar and with the main battery indicating discharge. A manual approach to a normal landing was accomplished. The cause was identified as water ingress into unsealed generator control units as a result of a blocked drain line in the forward galley… Well, it was not rainwater from outside that caused the malfunctions but the blockage of a drain pipe played a prominent role just as it did on my Peugeot…
Read more about this interesting event on SKYbrary here.
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