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A technical support lead mechanic reports about an ongoing problem with electronic tablets that are suppose to help maintenance personnel access MEL's; aircraft history and aircraft maintenance manuals (amm). Lack of wifi features and inability to print wiring diagrams for troubleshooting purposes were also noted.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1075000 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201303 |
| Local Time Of Day | 1201-1800 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ZZZ.Airport |
| State Reference | US |
| Environment | |
| Light | Daylight |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | Commercial Fixed Wing |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | Parked |
| Component | |
| Aircraft Component | Aircraft Documentation |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Lead Technician |
| Qualification | Maintenance Airframe Maintenance Powerplant |
| Experience | Maintenance Technician 26 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy |
Narrative:
This is an ongoing problem to a program/tool that [our company]; air carrier X; has tried to use and is at best intermittent and is frustrating. At stations with no maintenance; these tablets are the only means of aircraft manual data on a field trip. Wiring diagrams are so hard to use. I see a huge 'human factors' issue while using device myself; as well as others who just give up on its use. It is my understanding that 'if' [our] air carrier X would turn on the tablet's wifi feature; it would connect better. As I am told by the people in the program; they are 'worried' about doing this; as it would open up the internet for usage. (Not sure if it's for airline security or about persons being allowed to access the web.) this still won't address the wire diagram issue; maybe printers at all stations with the ability to print from the hand held tablets would help.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: A Technical Support Lead Mechanic reports about an ongoing problem with electronic tablets that are suppose to help Maintenance personnel access MEL's; Aircraft History and Aircraft Maintenance Manuals (AMM). Lack of WiFi features and inability to print Wiring Diagrams for troubleshooting purposes were also noted.
Narrative: This is an ongoing problem to a program/tool that [our company]; Air Carrier X; has tried to use and is at best intermittent and is frustrating. At Stations with no Maintenance; these tablets are the only means of Aircraft Manual data on a field trip. Wiring diagrams are so hard to use. I see a huge 'Human Factors' issue while using device myself; as well as others who just give up on its use. It is my understanding that 'if' [our] Air Carrier X would turn on the tablet's WiFi feature; it would connect better. As I am told by the people in the program; they are 'Worried' about doing this; as it would open up the Internet for usage. (Not sure if it's for airline security or about persons being allowed to access the web.) This still won't address the wire diagram issue; maybe printers at all stations with the ability to print from the hand held tablets would help.
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.