Borescope vs. cut the panel open, guess which one I should've done first

Spent last Tuesday chasing a suspected bleed leak on a CRJ at the hangar in Charlotte. I had my cheap borescope out, wiggling it around the pylon area for almost two hours, and every time I thought I saw a trace of oil, it was just residue from an old repair. Finally my lead walks over, taps the access panel, and says 'just cut the inspection hole, it's faster than your guessing game.' He was right, the actual leak was a cracked fitting hidden behind a support bracket that no scope angle could ever reach. The cuts took 20 minutes with a die grinder and the fix took another 15. My whole afternoon wasted because I wanted to avoid doing any sheet metal work. Anyone else find that the non destructive inspection route ends up costing more time than just opening things up?

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kevin_sullivan16d ago

Funny how the "fast" route always ends up being the long one, experience is just paying for lessons like that.