Narrative:

Aircraft landed at ZZZ; removed from service. While the aircraft maintenance technicians (amts) were servicing the hydraulic system they found a crack on the frame of the lh wheel well area and had qc do a high frequency eddy current (hfec) to verify the crack. The crack went from 1 fastener hole to another fastener hole and did not go past either hole. I called ZZZ flight operations engineer about this item to research this crack to see if an engineering authorization (ea) was required. I sent him pictures of the frame crack. He referred me to initial operational capability (ioc) engineering; I called ioc engineering and asked but he was busy working another aircraft. [Another engineer] was available; I told him what I had on [the] aircraft; a 1.5 inch crack on wheel well frame and qc accomplished a hfec and the crack went from fastener hole to fastener hole. I sent him the pictures of the frame that was cracked and asked him to look at it to see if an ea is needed due to it states to stop drill the end of the crack; but the crack terminated at the fastener holes and was verified by hfec. I asked him to review the maintenance manual/ srm refs 53-10-00-13 and 51-01-00-001. After he reviewed the pictures and the references; he called back and stated it's still allowable per 53-10-00-13 for 25 flight hours for the channel mpn 5930584-123 and is ref in maintenance manual. MD80 maintenance center was called and item was made for daily inspection and perm repair in 25 flight hours. Aircraft was returned to service.[the next day]; I was reviewing the ZZZ remain overnight (ron) bow and saw that [the same] aircraft was terminating in ZZZ that night and called the production control group at the hangar; I told them about the frame crack and the 25 flight hours before perm repair needs to accomplished. We talked about the repair adding the doubler takes about 6 hours to complete since have I done about 20 repairs as an amt. We set it up to go to the hangar for repair and next to sheet metal shop. Next thing that transpired; I received a call from ioc manager stating we were stopping [the] aircraft for an as soon as possible item. I told him what I knew about this aircraft and had it scheduled to go to the hangar on the ron tonight; I removed this aircraft from service and on the pull list to go to the hangar. I called my senior manager gave him the details and all the resources used on this aircraft frame crack.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An Aircraft Maintenance Technician working on an MD82 reported finding a 1 and 1/2 inch crack on the frame of the Left Hand wheel well that went from one rivet to another rivet .

Narrative: Aircraft landed at ZZZ; Removed from service. While the Aircraft Maintenance Technicians (AMTs) were servicing the hydraulic system they found a crack on the frame of the LH Wheel well area and had QC do a High Frequency Eddy Current (HFEC) to verify the crack. The crack went from 1 fastener hole to another fastener hole and did not go past either hole. I called ZZZ Flight Operations Engineer about this item to research this crack to see if an Engineering Authorization (EA) was required. I sent him pictures of the frame crack. He referred me to Initial Operational Capability (IOC) Engineering; I called IOC Engineering and asked but he was busy working another aircraft. [Another engineer] was available; I told him what I had on [the] Aircraft; a 1.5 inch crack on wheel well frame and QC accomplished a HFEC and the crack went from fastener hole to fastener hole. I sent him the pictures of the frame that was cracked and asked him to look at it to see if an EA is needed due to it states to stop drill the end of the crack; but the crack terminated at the fastener holes and was verified by HFEC. I asked him to review the Maintenance Manual/ SRM Refs 53-10-00-13 and 51-01-00-001. After he reviewed the pictures and the references; he called back and stated it's still allowable per 53-10-00-13 FOR 25 Flight hours for the channel MPN 5930584-123 and is Ref in Maintenance Manual. MD80 maintenance center was called and item was made for daily inspection and perm repair in 25 flight hours. Aircraft was returned to service.[The next day]; I was reviewing the ZZZ Remain Overnight (RON) BOW and saw that [the same] aircraft was terminating in ZZZ that night and called the Production Control Group at the hangar; I told them about the frame crack and the 25 flight hours before perm repair needs to accomplished. We talked about the repair adding the doubler takes about 6 hours to complete since have I done about 20 repairs as an AMT. We set it up to go to the hangar for repair and next to sheet metal shop. Next thing that transpired; I received a call from IOC Manager stating we were stopping [the] aircraft for an ASAP Item. I told him what I knew about this aircraft and had it scheduled to go to the hangar on the RON tonight; I removed this aircraft from service and on the Pull List to go to the hangar. I called my Senior Manager gave him the details and all the resources used on this aircraft frame crack.

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.