A B767-200 CAPTAIN NOTICES RH OUTBOARD FLAP TRAILING EDGE LOWER SURFACE HAS A HOLE THAT IS TAPED OVER. MAINT HISTORY SHOWS DAMAGED AREA HAS BEEN DEFERRED FOR OVER 12 MONTHS.

Date: 2008-05 · Aircraft: B767-200 · Phase: ground

Anomalies: aircraft-equipment-problem-critical|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-far|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-published-material-policy|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-maintenance

Synopsis

A B767-200 CAPTAIN NOTICES RH OUTBOARD FLAP TRAILING EDGE LOWER SURFACE HAS A HOLE THAT IS TAPED OVER. MAINT HISTORY SHOWS DAMAGED AREA HAS BEEN DEFERRED FOR OVER 12 MONTHS.

Narrative

ON WALKAROUND AT ZZZ; I FOUND THE DAMAGE. THERE WAS NO NOTATION IN THE ACFT LOGBOOK NOTING THE DAMAGE; EITHER ON THE ACFT DAMAGE INFO OR IN A NUMBERED PIREP ITEM. I ENTERED THE FOLLOWING PIREP: 'R-HAND TRAILING EDGE OF WING LOWER SURFACE APPEARS TO HAVE A HOLE THAT IS SPEED-TAPED OVER. FOUND DELAMINATION 12 INCHES BY 10 INCHES. MAINT NOTIFIED. ITEM ALREADY ON REPAIR ORDER FROM JUN/07.' I WAS UNCOMFORTABLE WITH THE SITUATION AND ONLY ACCEPTED THE ACFT FOR SVC AFTER HAVING A LIFT PULLED UP AND ACCOMPANYING THE MECH WHILE HE MEASURED THE DAMAGE AND CONTACTED TECHNICAL SVC FOR DIRECTION. I WAS TOLD THAT 'A STRUCTURAL ENGINEER APPROVED THE FIX AND THE INCREASED DEGRADATION.' HAD I KNOWN THE ENTIRE HISTORY; THERE WAS NO WAY I WOULD HAVE ACCEPTED THE ACFT FOR SVC. DAMAGE AREA JUN/07: 6 INCHES BY 8 INCHES = 48 SQUARE INCHES. DAMAGE AREA MAY/08: 12 INCHES BY 6 INCHES = 72 SQUARE INCHES -- A 50% INCREASE OVER 11 MONTHS. DAMAGE AREA MAY/08: 12 INCHES BY 10 INCHES = 120 SQUARE INCHES -- A 66% INCREASE OVER 3 DAYS. QUESTIONS (ASSUMING THE REPAIR IS APPROVED BY A STRUCTURAL ENGINEER): 1) IS HE AWARE OF THE EXPONENTIAL DEGRADATION OVER THE LAST FEW DAYS? 2) IF SO; AND ASSUMING SAID DEGRADATION IS APPROVED; WHAT IS THE ALLOWABLE RATE OF DEGRADATION AND TOTAL DELAMINATION ALLOWABLE? 3) WHEN ON THE LIFT AT ZZZ; I SAW A TAPE PATCH ON THE UPPER SURFACE OF THE FLAP; DIRECTLY ABOVE THE UNDERSIDE DELAMINATION. ON TOUCH; IT APPEARED TO BE AN ADDITIONAL REPAIR. THIS WAS NOT MENTIONED IN THE DAMAGE INFO OR THE MAINT HISTORY ELECTRONIC RECORD. IS MAINT AWARE OF THIS PATCH/DAMAGE/FIX? FORGIVE MY QUESTIONS. MY BACKGND BEFORE ACR WAS AS A STRUCTURES ENGINEER (BSME). ALTHOUGH I'VE BEEN OUT OF THE INDUSTRY FOR 23 YRS; I FIND THE RATE OF DETERIORATION TO BE WELL OUT OF LIMITS; GIVEN MY EXPERIENCE AT THAT TIME. ON THAT NOTE; THE B767 WAS CERTIFIED OVER 26 YRS AGO. I'M CURIOUS AS TO WHAT HAS CHANGED SINCE THEN. AFTER REVIEW OF THE ELECTRONIC LOG; I AM VERY DISAPPOINTED AND FEEL LIKE I WAS MISLED. IT WAS ONLY AFTER I RETURNED HOME THAT I SEE THE DAMAGE HAS BEEN DEFERRED 339 DAYS. A FEW QUESTIONS: 1) WHY A 339 DAY DEFERRAL? 2) DUCT TAPE? 3) HOW COULD A 3-DAY DETERIORATION OVER 50-60% BE ALLOWABLE? THIS IS ABSOLUTELY UNACCEPTABLE TO ALLOW THIS ACFT TO CONTINUE TO FLY IN THIS MANNER. I WAS ASSURED THAT 'ENGINEERS' WERE AWARE OF THE TEMPORARY FIX. AFTER READING THE MAINT HISTORY I FIND IT HARD TO IMAGINE THAT SUCH AN INCREASE OVER 3 DAYS IS SOMETHING AN ENGINEER WOULD APPROVE OF. R-HAND OUTBOARD FLAP INBOARD END LOWER SURFACE HAS AN 8 INCH BY 6 INCH DELAMINATION 10 INCHES FROM LOWER EDGE AND APPROX 8 INCHES FROM INBOARD END. RE-INSPECTED R-HAND OUTBOARD FLAP; FOUND THE REPAIR TO BE SURROUNDED BY ICE/WATER ACCUMULATION. (4-6 INCHES WIDE). TEMPORARY REPAIR; INJECT POTTING COMPOUND; DAMAGE AREA COVERED WITH SPEED TAPE; RE-INSPECTION EACH 'B' CHK; PERMANENT REPAIR TO BE ACCOMPLISHED AT NEXT 'C' CHK.

More incidents for this aircraft family →

Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.