No, in my opinion, it was sabotage.
The aircraft had just had an engine change, having had an overhauled engine refitted earlier that day. For ground runs, just enough oil would circulate.
In the air a different story. The insides of the engine were bright blue when it was dismantled – a sure sign of lack of lubrication!
The rags were of the type made from overalls, or uniform. There is no accidental way they could have got there.
Bruce
Hei Bruce,
I work as marine engineer and for the last 20 years I have witnessed several times that engines stop due to oil starvation after maintenance. All because of rag in oillines or blocking the suction pipe of the lub.oil pump. Thank god these engines were equipped with proper alarmsystems that stopped the engine and prevented serious damages. On many ships we received old clothes as rags, i would not be surprised that the people who did maintenance at aircraft had to use old clothes/uniforms or overalls because there were no good rags available.
So I doubt that your example was a case of sabotage.
Best regards,
Mathieu.
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