Narrative:

During the preflight exterior inspection damage to the number 2 engine cowling was discovered/failure of the material used to construct the inside of the cowling near the tips of the fan blades/a hole developed. The damaged engine cowling was placed on deferral using a tear down inspection ('tdi') as there isn't a cdl that applies. Aircraft was returned to service with the hole still in the cowling; no repair attempts were made before flights with revenue passengers on board. Subsequent flight crews operating aircraft may easily miss the damage to the number 2 cowling if the fan blades were parked in a manner that covered the hole. Tdis are not listed on dispatch release and there are no placards anywhere on the aircraft identifying the damage to alert the next crew. Please review and respond...was this the correct way to 'fix' this particular mechanical discrepancy? At the very least; please list all tdis on the dispatch release and highlight them on the cover of the aircraft logbook so that each crew is fully aware of the current condition of their aircraft. Furthermore; in hindsight I have concerns regarding the safe operation of company aircraft that are dispatched for revenue flights with holes developing in the engine cowling; cowling material eroding away without predictability - just millimeters away from spinning fan blades inside the engine cowling.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A320 Captain reported a hole was discovered on the inside cowling of the Number 2 engine during the exterior inspection. Aircraft placed on a work order and returned to service with hole still in cowling. Captain is concerned about this procedure.

Narrative: During the preflight exterior inspection damage to the number 2 engine cowling was discovered/failure of the material used to construct the inside of the cowling near the tips of the fan blades/a hole developed. The damaged engine cowling was placed on deferral using a Tear Down Inspection ('TDI') as there isn't a CDL that applies. Aircraft was returned to service with the hole still in the cowling; no repair attempts were made before flights with revenue passengers on board. Subsequent flight crews operating aircraft may easily miss the damage to the number 2 cowling if the fan blades were parked in a manner that covered the hole. TDIs are not listed on dispatch release and there are no placards anywhere on the aircraft identifying the damage to alert the next crew. Please review and respond...was this the correct way to 'fix' this particular mechanical discrepancy? At the very least; please list all TDIs on the dispatch release and highlight them on the cover of the aircraft logbook so that each crew is fully aware of the current condition of their aircraft. Furthermore; in hindsight I have concerns regarding the safe operation of company aircraft that are dispatched for revenue flights with holes developing in the engine cowling; cowling material eroding away without predictability - just millimeters away from spinning fan blades inside the engine cowling.

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.