2025-10 · NASA ASRS report 2297533
Air carrier Technician reported that while they were troubleshooting post flight reports; they were distracted by management due to time pressure.
Aircraft X had a return to gate event on a live flight. I was assigned with Person A to troubleshoot the fault. During troubleshooting I discovered roughly 30 faults and warnings on the PFR (Post Flight Report). It was a very difficult discrepancy to troubleshoot. What made it even more difficult was the fact that i had my supervisor; Person B; trying to give me technical advice with minimal knowledge of the fleet type. He came out to my aircraft twice and had also chimed in on a phone call to my lead with technical advice. I was calling ; my lead to tell him to inform management it was best to find a swap for that flight. When Person B was at the aircraft he made multiple suggestions which all were 'shooting from the hip' ideas. He suggested finding a circuit breaker to reset; the possibility of a hydraulic leak; and the best one yet; the possibility that the engine idg (Integrated drive generator) plug was arcing. Roughly 30 minutes prior to the gate call he was in the work center telling us that he is unfamiliar with airbus and trying to learn. He also was asking for updates on our troubleshooting and asking about our expectations. All of this was unnecessary pressure and clouding of our judgment. Lastly our manager; Person C; bypassed his supervisor Person B; and BOTH of the leads to drive to the gate from the hangar and ask us technical questions and ask for updates. He stated that his update from Person B was unclear; and he as well wanted to know if we tried a circuit breaker reset AFTER i showed him a printout of the 30 faults on the PFR. This is a normal thing here at ZZZ. We constantly have management (commonly including managers) and supervisors bypassing the chain of command for updates and trying to help us work aircraft with only revenue and cleared deferrals in mind. This has to stop.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.
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