Narrative:

I am an a&P mechanic for airlines. On dec/fri/1993 aircraft nx came in for a nose gear inspection for rivets that have been failing in the gear well area. An inspector and 2 mechanics looked in area we normally look at and nothing was noted at this time. But then our engineer came in the area of aircraft with a drawing with 3 rivets circled and saying that he knew that there were failed rivets on aircraft without looking at aircraft. Rivets that he was talking about were in area we do not look at for failures. Then he said manufacturers representatives told them about this. They looked at aircraft on nov/wed/1993 so aircraft flew all this time like that, before we fixed aircraft. Callback conversation with reporter revealed the following information: the reporter is a lead mechanic for a supplemental carrier. He was in charge of preparing the subject aircraft for return to service when an engineer announced that he knew that there were sheared rivets that had been overlooked. Apparently a manufacturer's representative had found the problem and told the engineer, but the engineer had not passed this finding on to the mechanics. Apparently the engineer and the manufacturer's representative had kept the knowledge of the sheared rivets to themselves for a period of about 2 weeks. The sheared rivets are in the nosewheel well and are an ongoing problem with all aircraft of this type.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: AN ACR MECH RPTS THAT ONE OF HIS ACFT FLEW FOR 2 WKS WITH KNOWN SHEARED RIVETS IN THE NOSEWHEEL WELL.

Narrative: I AM AN A&P MECH FOR AIRLINES. ON DEC/FRI/1993 ACFT NX CAME IN FOR A NOSE GEAR INSPECTION FOR RIVETS THAT HAVE BEEN FAILING IN THE GEAR WELL AREA. AN INSPECTOR AND 2 MECHS LOOKED IN AREA WE NORMALLY LOOK AT AND NOTHING WAS NOTED AT THIS TIME. BUT THEN OUR ENGINEER CAME IN THE AREA OF ACFT WITH A DRAWING WITH 3 RIVETS CIRCLED AND SAYING THAT HE KNEW THAT THERE WERE FAILED RIVETS ON ACFT WITHOUT LOOKING AT ACFT. RIVETS THAT HE WAS TALKING ABOUT WERE IN AREA WE DO NOT LOOK AT FOR FAILURES. THEN HE SAID MANUFACTURERS REPRESENTATIVES TOLD THEM ABOUT THIS. THEY LOOKED AT ACFT ON NOV/WED/1993 SO ACFT FLEW ALL THIS TIME LIKE THAT, BEFORE WE FIXED ACFT. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: THE RPTR IS A LEAD MECH FOR A SUPPLEMENTAL CARRIER. HE WAS IN CHARGE OF PREPARING THE SUBJECT ACFT FOR RETURN TO SVC WHEN AN ENGINEER ANNOUNCED THAT HE KNEW THAT THERE WERE SHEARED RIVETS THAT HAD BEEN OVERLOOKED. APPARENTLY A MANUFACTURER'S REPRESENTATIVE HAD FOUND THE PROB AND TOLD THE ENGINEER, BUT THE ENGINEER HAD NOT PASSED THIS FINDING ON TO THE MECHS. APPARENTLY THE ENGINEER AND THE MANUFACTURER'S REPRESENTATIVE HAD KEPT THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE SHEARED RIVETS TO THEMSELVES FOR A PERIOD OF ABOUT 2 WKS. THE SHEARED RIVETS ARE IN THE NOSEWHEEL WELL AND ARE AN ONGOING PROB WITH ALL ACFT OF THIS TYPE.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 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.