Originally Posted by
shoelu
I wear white latex gloves also when it is the first flight of the day and I have to remove the gear pins. Some of them can be caked in grease and who knows what. It's easier to don the gloves than scrub the grease off my hands in the lav. However, I think SWA may be one of the few airlines that uses the gear pins every night.
My company pins the gear when mechanics are taxiing to and from the hangar. However, maintenance installs and removes them as a logbook entry is required every time.
At my old company, on the Saab, part of our morning security check was to check inside the wheel wells. There's a chain inside the main gear to open one of the doors on the ground. You had to reach up inside and feel around for it. You bet I work latex gloves on my walk around. That grease didn't come off easily and the Saab didn't have running water.