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The safety wire comes in to prevent a loose bolt from gently unscrewing itself further and completely disassembling itself (which can happen with vibration).

You're much better off with a loose bolt, than a missing one. It'll hopefully make itself known somehow (maybe even just visual inspection) while still remaining somewhat attached, which is better than nothing.

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Thanks for the explanation. Does that mean a correctly wired bold should have wires loose enough to allow a loose bolt to give itself away — either through rattling or becoming visibly undone?

When I searched for images of wired bolts just now I saw many examples where the wire is done up quite tightly, which doesn’t seem right.

I don’t know what Boeing do, but you typically see torque markings on many of these bolts on small planes (and cars, roller coasters, other things).

If the painted seal is broken or misaligned, you know the nut has moved.

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