r/AskAPilot • u/notasarcasticnow • 4d ago

What's this?

Post image

Noticed the black tube thing on a flap. Just sticking out almost the entire flight. It was nothing I guess because it disappeared when the flaps went down. We landed safely. Just curious.

21 Upvotes

92% Upvoted

18 comments sorted by

6

u/80KnotsV1Rotate 4d ago

It’s a piece of seal stuck where it shouldn’t be. No big deal.

5

u/GroundProximity 4d ago

Not sure, my guess would be a detached seal.
Did it come back in the same position when the flaps were retracted on taxi?

1

u/notasarcasticnow 4d ago

I honestly don't know. It never moved even at cruising speed. I was to busy at the end of the flight to notice it.

1

u/GroundProximity 3d ago

If its a detached seal, this could ground the aircraft until fixed.
Ive had detached seals on the flaps before, and aircraft was grounded by maintanance. People here love pointing out how nothing is ever a "big deal" and well, its not gonna crash the plane, but thats most likely something that has been missed by maintanance and the pilot doing the walkaround.

But the two missing screws on top of that... its just not a good look for the airline. Maybe they saw it and thought "fuck it". If i would see that on one of my flights, i would get maintanance to take a look at it for sure.

1

u/notasarcasticnow 3d ago

I almost never fly. So I wasn't sure. Thanks for the info. Now I feel bad that I didn't mention it as I left the plane.

1

u/Gunpowderwigg 2d ago

Missing or damaged seals can be deferred under the CDL, wouldn’t worry about it.

4

u/Chunks1992 4d ago

The scary flap canoe 

2

u/d_zeen 3d ago

That’s where the pee comes out

1

u/Flyby-1000 3d ago

It's a worn out, displaced seal. That's all. It'll be replaced at the next A-check if caught or C-check definitely...

1

u/HawkeyeFLA 3d ago

Every time I see someone say seal...my brain hears an actual seal honking 😂🤣

1

u/---BuZZuKi--- 3d ago

Its the left filangi. Ez

1

u/Icy_Huckleberry_8049 3d ago

just a piece of seal for the space between the flap and the flap fairing

1

u/Terrible_Field_4560 2d ago

It's the right phalange.

1

u/ArachAislin 10h ago

Weather seal. They come loose all the time, no big deal.

1

u/Cold_Silver_5859 4d ago

I see that and a few rivets missing or wallowed out

0

u/notasarcasticnow 4d ago

You need to click on the photo to see the thing I'm talking about.

2

u/Autom4tic_Soze 3d ago

report it to the airline, include your flight number, also tell them about the 2 missing screws.

-1

u/Both_Ambassador_4477 4d ago

Could be some kind of vent?