Narrative:

[A technician] notified me during a post flight/preflight inspection; a blue shop rag was found in the fuel cell of bell 407. He was able to fish the rag from the fuel cell and further inspected the fuel cell for any other foreign object or debris (FOD). None was found. He replaced the airframe fuel filter with no faults noted during inspection of removed filter. A review of records indicated I was involved in fuel cell maintenance performed on this aircraft on; approximately [few] months prior. The maintenance performed as I recall; was an a inspection which included a fuel cell quantity harness replacement and fuel cell cleaning due to fungus growth. This maintenance was specific line items in the inspection. As I recall; no blue rags where ever put in the fuel cell for the cleaning of the fungus growth. It was performed using white lint free cloths until all fungus growth was removed. No rags were needed for the fuel quantity harness replacement. An FOD check was completed prior to closing the fuel cells up and no discrepancies were noted.I am not sure how a rag ended up inside the fuel cell.since I am not sure how a rag ended up in the fuel cell; I do not have any recommendations to remedy the issue. However; if the rag was placed in the fuel cell and missed before being closed up during the maintenance [inspection]; my recommendation would be to include a section on the inspection checklists where panels or fairings accessed or removed could be noted. This section could also include an 'okay to close' block much like how our 'cya' or 'rii' inspections are used which would note the area is free of FOD.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A Maintenance Technician reported that a rag was found in the fuel cell of the helicopter he was inspecting.

Narrative: [A technician] notified me during a Post Flight/Preflight inspection; a Blue shop Rag was found in the fuel cell of Bell 407. He was able to fish the Rag from the fuel Cell and further inspected the fuel cell for any other Foreign Object or Debris (FOD). None was found. He replaced the Airframe fuel filter with no faults noted during inspection of removed filter. A review of records indicated I was involved in fuel cell maintenance performed on this Aircraft on; approximately [few] months prior. The maintenance performed as I recall; was an A Inspection which included a Fuel Cell quantity harness replacement and Fuel cell cleaning due to fungus growth. This maintenance was specific line items in the Inspection. As I recall; no Blue Rags where ever put in the fuel cell for the cleaning of the fungus growth. It was performed using white lint free cloths until all fungus growth was removed. No rags were needed for the Fuel Quantity harness replacement. An FOD check was completed prior to closing the fuel cells up and no discrepancies were noted.I am not sure how a Rag ended up inside the fuel cell.Since I am not sure how a rag ended up in the fuel cell; I do not have any recommendations to remedy the issue. However; if the rag was placed in the fuel cell and missed before being closed up during the maintenance [inspection]; my recommendation would be to include a section on the inspection checklists where panels or fairings accessed or removed could be noted. This section could also include an 'Okay to Close' block much like how our 'CYA' or 'RII' inspections are used which would note the area is free of FOD.

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.