Blind landing light swap, I chose the wrong side first

Last week I had to replace a landing light on a 737 in Memphis and the access panel was stuck. I had two options: pull the whole assembly from the top or go blind from below with just my left arm. I picked the blind route because it was quicker, but I dropped the new bulb and it shattered on the tarmac. Took me 20 minutes to fish out the glass bits and admit I should have just loosened the four top bolts from the start. Anybody else ever pick the sketchy shortcut and immediately regret it?

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valwest15d ago

Used to swear by blind shortcuts, but your shattered bulb just convinced me to take the extra minute every time.