A Line Inspector reports about a B717 that required an air turnback for a nose gear light that would not go out after pilot placed the gear handle in the 'UP' position. After numerous successful gear swings and no fault codes noted in the aircraft's MCDU; Inspector suspects the ramp crew that performed the push-back may not have noticed a nose gear pin still installed.
Synopsis
A Line Inspector reports about a B717 that required an air turnback for a nose gear light that would not go out after pilot placed the gear handle in the 'UP' position. After numerous successful gear swings and no fault codes noted in the aircraft's MCDU; Inspector suspects the ramp crew that performed the push-back may not have noticed a nose gear pin still installed.
Narrative
June 2010; I was at the Line Maintenance office. The Maintenance Supervisor advised me that a B717 was on its way with a nose gear problem. I was asked 'do I need to RII a nose gear swing?' I said not if you don't rig; adjust or change anything. [Landing gear] jack and tools [were] in place awaiting aircraft to arrive. Upon arrival; mechanic talked to crew and it was decided to jack the nose gear and to do a gear swing. Mechanic 'X' and I watched the gear swing three or four times; heard nothing; nor saw anything abnormal. Lead Mechanic said swing the gear five or six more times to make sure; still no problem. Lead Mechanic said do you have to RII this and I said no; but that I would anyway just in case the crew wanted a 'second set of eyes.'Lead Mechanic and myself went into cockpit to see if it had any previous fault codes or history; none were found. We down-jacked the aircraft; took the tools away; and I waited in the Line office for Lead Mechanic to come sign the logbook; and we did. The item was not a RII; I should not have signed the Logbook; I thought the crew would feel more comfortable if there was a 'second set of eyes' watching the gear swing.I don't know [how] the circuit breaker got missed; possibly the breaker was pulled to stop the Aural Warning while we were checking for fault codes.
NASA callback
Reporter stated the initial flight out of ZZZ was an air turnback. The Ramp Crew did the push-back of the B717 prior to the aircraft returning. The flight crew reported hearing a 'funny' noise when the gear handle was placed in the 'Up' position. Maintenance Control decided to ferry the aircraft with the gear 'Down' to their Maintenance Base in ZZZ1; because no one in ZZZ could determine the cause of the nose landing gear light not extinguishing when the flight crew placed the gear handle in the 'Up' position.Reporter stated that after numerous gear swings; he and other mechanics could not duplicate the inflight problem. They checked the MCDU in the cockpit and did not find any previous fault codes or history indicating a landing gear problem prior to; or during the air turnback. Reporter stated he noticed the B717 had arrived at one gate in ZZZ; but departed from another. That's when they started thinking that possibly the ramp crew in ZZZ may not have noticed a gear pin was still installed in the nose landing gear when they were doing their pushback in ZZZ. Gear pins are installed by the ramp crew when they move an aircraft from one gate to another. That would account for no faults showing up in the MCDU review.Reporter stated his mistake was signing-off the logbook for an RII Inspection as a courtesy; but failing to remember he was also signing for verifying that circuit breakers were pushed-in and associated systems were also returned to 'normal' conditions. Although the maintenance procedures include a cockpit check; he just never thought about that because an RII was not required in the first place. The cockpit mechanics involved with the gear swing had apparently pulled the Aural Warning Horn to silence the horn noise that kept going off when they swung the gears.Reporter stated either the following shift mechanic found the circuit breaker (C/B) not pushed-in or the outbound flight crew noticed the Aural Warning was not working during their crew pre-flight. The issue with the C/B was resolved before the aircraft departed from ZZZ1.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.