Narrative:

A departing passenger brought to my attention a section on the left wing top where he thought some rivets may not have been secure. He had cell phone photos showing what appeared to be the area in question separated in flight. (This gentleman is a pilot; non-company; who said he had seen this separation before). Maintenance was summoned to the aircraft and confirmed that the rivets were not holding. The aircraft was taken out of service. The area in question is on the wing top; immediately inboard of the [left] engine pylon; just forward of the black paint line (that describes the 'okay for frost' area) and was six or seven rivets long. For several years; on originators; I have made a point to inspect the upper wing surfaces from the overwing exits. I did so this morning and did not detect any abnormalities. The damage described in this report could not be detected by normal preflight duties; a ladder would be required. Parked at gate; post flight. The only action that could prevent this issue is more frequent maintenance inspections of the compromised area. This area is not adequately inspect-able from the ground or the cabin.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A Captain was informed by a passenger departing their B737-700 aircraft that rivets appeared to be loose on the upper wing skin leading edge area; just inboard of the left engine pylon. Maintenance determined passenger's observations were correct and the attach fasteners were loose. Maintenance Control approved a 100-hour MEL deferral with Repetitive Inspections.

Narrative: A departing passenger brought to my attention a section on the left wing top where he thought some rivets may not have been secure. He had cell phone photos showing what appeared to be the area in question separated in flight. (This gentleman is a pilot; non-company; who said he had seen this separation before). Maintenance was summoned to the aircraft and confirmed that the rivets were not holding. The aircraft was taken out of service. The area in question is on the wing top; immediately inboard of the [left] engine pylon; just forward of the black paint line (that describes the 'okay for frost' area) and was six or seven rivets long. For several years; on originators; I have made a point to inspect the upper wing surfaces from the overwing exits. I did so this morning and did not detect any abnormalities. The damage described in this report could not be detected by normal preflight duties; a ladder would be required. Parked at gate; post flight. The only action that could prevent this issue is more frequent maintenance inspections of the compromised area. This area is not adequately inspect-able from the ground or the cabin.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site 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.