A Mechanic and a Lead Technician are directed by Maintenance Control to perform a 'Visual Inspection' of the left and right Main Landing Gear # 5 and #6 support ribs on an A319 aircraft. Both Mechanics question Maintenance Control about not being RII Inspection qualified.
Synopsis
A Mechanic and a Lead Technician are directed by Maintenance Control to perform a 'Visual Inspection' of the left and right Main Landing Gear # 5 and #6 support ribs on an A319 aircraft. Both Mechanics question Maintenance Control about not being RII Inspection qualified.
Narrative
After completing Maintenance on an A319 aircraft and deferring the two referenced Inspections on the left and right Main Landing Gear support ribs; I received a phone call from Maintenance Control stating that these Inspections must be complied with. I explained that the Inspections were deferred due to an Inspector being needed and we do not have Inspector in ZZZ. They informed me that this Task was out of time and it must be complied with. I was also told that; even though the Job Card has a specific block for an Inspector; I was able to sign the Card because only a 'Second Set of Eyes' was required for this Visual Inspection. Upon paperwork review; we found out that I was not able to sign-off the Inspection block on the Cards; the aircraft is currently flying with an Inspection that is out of time. This situation was caused due to misinformation being delivered to me by the Maintenance Control and Lead Mechanic in an effort to avoid a lengthy delay. Maintenance Control must be more vigilant when giving Direct Orders in an effort to assure 100 % compliance.
Second reporter narrative
An A319 Aircraft was in ZZZ overnight. It had an Inspection item to do on the Main Landing Gear rib # 5 and # 6. It required a mechanic and inspector sign off. We deferred it for lack of Inspector. The Lead AMT received a call from our Maintenance Control that the Inspection had to be done and that the Inspector sign-off could now be done by a 'Second Set of Eyes' Mechanic. A company notice that had to be read and signed-off; allowed us to sign that block. Since they are the subject matter experts we went and did the Inspection. I signed off the 'Mechanic' block. A second Mechanic signed the 'Inspector' block. No flags popped up after input in the Maintenance computer that it required an Inspector. The computer system is designed to accept only qualified employee numbers for sign-offs and it took our employee numbers as qualified. We found after a paperwork review that the person who signed off the Inspector block did not have authority to do so. The problem was caused by misinformation from Maintenance Control that we were now allowed to do Inspection. In the future Maintenance Control needs to ensure information given is correct and use reference numbers to the document given information as needed.
NASA callback
Reporter stated he was working on an A319 his Carrier had acquired from another company and was using their paperwork. The Maintenance Job Card package had a cover sheet that required a signature from a Lead Mechanic and an Inspector. After much discussion; he agreed to perform a 'Visual Inspection' of the left and right Main Landing Gear support ribs. He signed-off the Inspection completed block for the Rib Inspections. Reporter stated he still felt unsure about whether or not he needed an RII Inspection qualification to perform the Rib Inspections. His Carrier did confirm with him later; that he did not need any special qualification to do the 'Visual Inspections.'
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Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.