AN ACR MLG CREW GOT A SCRATCH ON THEIR ACFT WHILE IN THE PROCESS OF LOADING CARGO. LATER; A LARGE DENT WAS FOUND IN THE SAME SPOT.

Narrative

ON MD/92 WHEN CARGO WAS BEING UNLOADED; THE TRACTOR COULDN'T HOLD THE LOAD UP AND IT TIPPED AND FELL TO THE GND AND ALSO SLID DOWN THE SIDE OF THE PLANE. WHEN THE LOAD WAS PULLED AWAY; I INSPECTED THE EXTERIOR OF THE PLANE AND FOUND A 7 INCH SCRATCH AND NO DENTS. I ASKED MY FO TO PERFORM AN INDEPENDENT INSPECTION AND HE TOO CONCLUDED THAT THE PLANE WAS OK OTHER THAN THE SCRATCH TO THE WHITE PAINT. FOR 2 ADDITIONAL DAYS; NUMEROUS AIR CREWS PREFLTED AND FOUND THE PLANE AIRWORTHY AS WELL AS POSTFLTS AND THOROUGH FLTS INSPECTIONS BY QUALIFIED MAINT PERSONNEL. THE PLANE WAS FLOWN UNTIL THE D+4 WHEN MAINT SAID FURTHER DAMAGE OCCURRED AND A LARGE DENT WAS PRESENT. THEY INSTALLED A 2 FT PATCH DURING THEIR WORK. AFTER THE INCIDENT ON THE GND; I CALLED OUR DIRECTOR OF FLT CTL (DFC) AND TOLD HIM OF THE DETAILS. HE ASKED IF I SAW ANY DAMAGE AND I RPTED THAT I HADN'T. FLT WAS DIRECTED TO PROCEED. ACFT WAS LOOKED AT ROUTINELY TWICE MORE THAT SEGMENT BY MAINT A AND P'S AND THEY DIDN'T NOTICE ANY SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE. I SUSPECT THE FAA MAY CONCLUDE I FLEW A DAMAGED ACFT DUE TO LATER REPAIRS.