A maintenance technician that was assigned to accomplish a maintenance task card discovered that the...

Narrative:

An embraer arrived with a scheduled job card for [an operational check of all flight control system power control units]. I started performing the task and the lower rudder PCU failed the check. I notified the hangar and they picked up the aircraft to take to the hangar for PCU change. I discovered that the aircraft [had been in another station the previous night]. Maintenance had deferred this job card with a memo of 'need rudder actuator'. They did not properly defer the task card with maintenance control. They were aware of a failed lower rudder PCU and failed to take the necessary steps to fix it. This means the airplane was illegally flown due to the [known] faulty lower rudder PCU. The part was already requested and stated ensure on hand on the cover page of the task card. Suggestions: if you find something broke; fix it or follow the proper procedures to allow the aircraft to fly legally.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A Maintenance Technician that was assigned to accomplish a maintenance task card discovered that the card had been started at a previous station. The card and the identified defect were not properly addressed and appear to have been flown out of compliance with the maintenance program.

Narrative: An Embraer arrived with a scheduled job card for [an operational check of all flight control system power control units]. I started performing the task and the lower rudder PCU failed the check. I notified the hangar and they picked up the aircraft to take to the hangar for PCU change. I discovered that the aircraft [had been in another station the previous night]. Maintenance had deferred this job card with a memo of 'need rudder actuator'. They did not properly defer the task card with maintenance control. They were aware of a failed lower rudder PCU and failed to take the necessary steps to fix it. This means the airplane was illegally flown due to the [known] faulty lower rudder PCU. The part was already requested and stated ensure on hand on the cover page of the task card. Suggestions: If you find something broke; fix it or follow the proper procedures to allow the aircraft to fly legally.

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	1035320
Time
Date	201209
Local Time Of Day	0001-0600
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	EMB ERJ 170/175 ER/LR
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Parked
Component
Aircraft Component	Rudder Control System
Person 1
Function	Technician
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy

A maintenance technician that was assigned to accomplish a maintenance task card discovered that the card had been started at a previous station. The card and the identified defect were not properly addressed and appear to have been flown out of compliance with the maintenance program.