A line mechanic reports he inadvertently signed-off the inspection block on a work card for the nose...

Narrative:

At night; january 2012; I was tasked with a work card; revision dated december 2011; to complete on a B757-200 aircraft. The work card is to inspect the nose gear tire spin down brake pads for cracking; no cracks were found and I signed the check by blocks; as is normally done for most line maintenance work cards. This particular card has an 'I' in the check by blocks for steps-3 and -4 notating a quality control (Q/C) sign-off.I believe this clerical error happened because: 1). This work card should be intended for heavy maintenance checks that have qc at their disposal. 2). This work card is formatted very similar to other line maintenance cards that have the check by block in the same place this card has; and this card also says check by in the block; just as other line maintenance cards. I would recommend in the future; that if line maintenance is to do work cards with qc sign-offs; that there should be a very bold and unmistakeable notation where they are to sign; so a non-qc mechanic will know not to sign it.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A Line Mechanic reports he inadvertently signed-off the Inspection block on a Work Card for the Nose Gear Tire Spin Down Brake pads on a B757-200 aircraft.

Narrative: At night; January 2012; I was tasked with a Work Card; revision dated December 2011; to complete on a B757-200 aircraft. The Work Card is to inspect the Nose Gear Tire Spin Down Brake pads for cracking; no cracks were found and I signed the Check by Blocks; as is normally done for most Line Maintenance Work Cards. This particular card has an 'I' in the Check by Blocks for Steps-3 and -4 notating a Quality Control (Q/C) sign-off.I believe this clerical error happened because: 1). This Work Card should be intended for Heavy Maintenance Checks that have QC at their disposal. 2). This Work Card is formatted very similar to other Line Maintenance Cards that have the Check by Block in the same place this card has; and this card also says Check by in the block; just as other Line Maintenance Cards. I would recommend in the future; that If Line Maintenance is to do work cards with QC sign-offs; that there should be a very bold and unmistakeable notation where they are to sign; so a non-QC Mechanic will know not to sign it.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

Attributes
ACN	1026869
Time
Date	201201
Local Time Of Day	1801-2400
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B757-200
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Parked
Component
Aircraft Component	Nose Gear Tire
Person 1
Function	Technician
Qualification	Maintenance Airframe Maintenance Powerplant
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy

A line mechanic reports he inadvertently signed-off the inspection block on a work card for the nose gear tire spin down brake pads on a B757-200 aircraft.