Passenger prevents lengthy delay - fixes faulty plane {Gadling}

Jul 7th 2009 6:44AM Yes, they were lucky he was there. A licensed Airframe and Powerplant mechanic spends years getting his or her training. They are not paid well, yet they keep all the pax alive as a result of their efforts. It takes a minimum of two years of school and several as an apprentice or no school and 3,000 hours logged with another licensed A&P before you get signed off to take a written test followed by a practical test in the hanger. They are lucky to make $60K a year after many years of service. Startuing pay today........... wait for it ................ $15.00 to $20.00 per hour depending upon the region you live / work in. A manager at a burger joint makes more with much less responsibility. If there is a crash guess who gets visited first? Ye- - the A&P. The A&P signs off on every job he or she does and m any require a further inspection by an A&P / IA (someone with inspection authorization - yet another leverl of years of service in and yes, another written test). Those folks were luck he was on board and willing to sign off too. Also lucky he had access to the parts and tools required too. :-)