A loose cannon plug on a CRJ-700 ate up 3 full hours before I noticed

Last Tuesday I was chasing a weird intermittant on the #2 VHF comm. It would cut out every time the plane hit a bump on taxi. I spent forever swapping boxes, reseating cards, even tested the antenna coax. Took 3 hours before I realized the cannon plug on the back of the radio tray was only finger tight. Probably a mechanic bumped it during a previous shift. Just the act of spinning it a quarter turn fixed everything. Has anyone else had a simple connector issue waste way too much time like this?

2 comments

2 Comments

robert_hayes1mo ago

Oh man, does that ever sound familiar. I had a similar thing on a CRJ-200 where the left audio panel was acting up, just cutting out the intercom randomly. I pulled and re-seated the panel three times, swapped it with the other side, checked all the wiring continuity. It took me like two and a half hours before I realized the ground screw on the back of the tray was just barely loose. A quarter turn with a screwdriver and it was golden. I mean, those little cannon plugs and screws can drive you crazy, right? It's always the dumbest stuff that eats up your whole shift.

amy_sanchez1mo ago

Yep, my record is four hours on a loose knob. At least you fixed it faster than I did.