The day a bird's nest shut down a Gulfstream's entire nav system

Got a call for a G550 in Dallas with total comm and nav failure... found a family of sparrows had built a nest right in the belly avionics bay. Took three of us about six hours to clean out all the straw and, well, other stuff, and check every pin for corrosion. Has anyone else had a job go completely sideways because of wildlife?

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3 Comments

casey3935mo ago

Ngl that's a new one. Birds really do have it out for avionics.

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mason_foster683mo ago

Birds don't really "have it out" for avionics, they're just looking for warm places to nest or food scraps. Access panels on older planes can lose their seals over time from heat cycling and general wear. That's probably more about maintenance schedules than some bird vendetta.

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janab825mo ago

Did they ever figure out how the birds got access in the first place? That's a serious access panel seal failure. Were there any lasting issues with the wiring harnesses after the cleanup, or did a simple pin wash fix it all?

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