A MECHANIC CONTRACTED BY HIS CARRIER TO PERFORM MAINTENANCE ON AN INTERNATIONAL CARRIER'S AIRCRAFT; NOTICES A LARGE DENT ON A B777-300 JUST AFT OF THE CENTER STATIC PORT IN THE RVSM EXTRA-CRITICAL AREA.
Synopsis
A MECHANIC CONTRACTED BY HIS CARRIER TO PERFORM MAINTENANCE ON AN INTERNATIONAL CARRIER'S AIRCRAFT; NOTICES A LARGE DENT ON A B777-300 JUST AFT OF THE CENTER STATIC PORT IN THE RVSM EXTRA-CRITICAL AREA.
Narrative
ACR B777-300 ARRIVED FROM ZZZZ IN DEC/07. LARGE DENT APPROX 8 INCHES IN DIAMETER LOCATED 18 INCHES AFT OF THE CENTER STATIC PORT ON THE R-HAND SIDE BELOW MED 2RH. PER BOEING SRM WELL WITHIN THE RVSM EXTRA-CRITICAL AREA. ACFT WAS RELEASED AFTER ACR ENGINEERING APPROVAL WITH RVSM NON-COMPLIANT IN THE ACFT LOGBOOK. SAME ACFT ARRIVED ON ANOTHER TRIP WITH SAME CONDITION STILL UNADDRESSED. I WAS OILING #2 ENG AND A CO-WORKER DID THE WALKAROUND. I WAS ASKED WHERE THE PAPERWORK WAS DETAILING THE DENT BY ACR ENGINEERING WAS LOCATED; IN A SEPARATE ACFT DAMAGE BOOK IN THE FLT DECK. I WAS APCHED BY THE ACR MAINT REPRESENTATIVE AND TOLD TO 'IGNORE IT AND PRETEND IT DOESN'T EXIST.' MY REPLY WAS NO; AND WAS TOLD TO LEAVE THE ACFT AND HAD MY QUALIFICATIONS FOR ACR REMOVED. I HAVE NOT WORKED ACR SINCE AND HAVE NOTED THE ACFT IS STILL IN SAME CONDITION. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: REPORTER STATED THE DENT LOOKED LIKE A BOWLING BALL DENT; BETWEEN THE STRINGERS UNDER CABIN DOOR 2-RIGHT. THIS DOOR IS ALSO USED BY FOOD SERVICE VENDORS TO SUPPLY THE AIRCRAFT. THE DENT IS IN THE EXTRA-CRITICAL AREA OF THE EXTERNAL FUSELAGE SKIN AND REQUIRED THE B777 TO BE DOWNGRADED TO A RVSM NON-COMPLIANT STATUS BY THAT CARRIER'S ENGINEERING. AIRCRAFT WAS THEN RELEASED. REPORTER STATES MOST INTERNATIONAL CARRIER AIRCRAFT HE HAS PERFORMED MAINTENANCE ON HAVE A RED BORDER OUTLYING THE RVSM EXTRA-CRITICAL AREAS OF THE FUSELAGE SIMILAR TO U.S. AIRCRAFT. BUT THIS ONE DID NOT. A COUPLE OF WEEKS LATER; HE NOTICED THE SAME B777-300 HAD RETURNED WITH THE SAME DENT. REPORTER STATES HE WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE WALK AROUND AND THE MAINTENANCE RELEASE AND WANTED TO KNOW THE STATUS OF WHY THE AIRCRAFT HAD NOT BEEN REPAIRED. HE WAS ALSO CONCERNED WHETHER THE AIRCRAFT WAS ACTUALLY BEING FLOWN IN THE U.S. RVSM AIRSPACE WITHOUT ANYONE KNOWING. REPORTER STATES WHEN HE REFUSED TO SIGN OFF THE MAINTENANCE RELEASE OF THE B777; UNLESS HE WAS GIVEN SOME ANSWERS; THE INTERNATIONAL CARRIER MAINTENANCE REPRESENTATIVE TOLD HIM TO LEAVE. REPORTER STATES ALL HE WAS ASKING WAS A QUESTION WHETHER THE B777 WAS LEGAL TO FLY IN U.S. AIRSPACE WITH THIS TYPE OF DAMAGE AND NO SPECIFIC REFERENCE TO ALLOWABLE DAMAGE LIMITS. REPORTER ALSO STATES HE WAS JUST DOING HIS JOB AND FEELS HIS CARRIER DID NOT SUPPORT HIM IN HIS EFFORTS TO ADDRESS THE RVSM ISSUE.
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Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.