An air carrier maintenance controller dictated improper procedures to a flight crew.

Attributes
ACN	274318
Time
Date	199406
Day	Thu
Local Time Of Day	0001 To 0600
Place
Locale Reference	airport : sdf
State Reference	KY
Altitude	agl bound lower : 0 agl bound upper : 0
Environment
Light	Night
Aircraft 1
Controlling Facilities	tower : pdx
Operator	common carrier : air carrier
Make Model Name	Commercial Fixed Wing
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	other personnel other
Qualification	other other : other
ASRS Report	274318
Person 2
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : captain oversight : pic
Qualification	pilot : atp
Events
Anomaly	aircraft equipment problem : less severe non adherence : published procedure other anomaly other
Independent Detector	other other : unspecified
Resolutory Action	none taken : detected after the fact
Consequence	faa : investigated
Supplementary
Primary Problem	Aircraft
Air Traffic Incident	other

Narrative:

On jun/xx/94 at AM45 the flight crew called me for a deferral of an APU fire test system inoperative. My deferral authority/authorized was dictated to the flight crew of flight restr and procedures for flight with APU inoperative and fire test inoperative on the APU. The crew was told of procedures to pull a circuit breaker and placard the APU with inoperative stickers. The only procedure which was not told to do was pull the light bulbs from the APU fire handle in my good judgement. The bulbs did not need to be pulled because the lights would not work because the circuit breakers were pulled. The lights would only work if there was electric power to them. There is no flight safety violation involved, only a procedural irregularity of pulling the lights from the APU fire handle. Whatever the flight crew did after my dictation of inoperative procedures is unknown to me. This irregularity was found by the FAA at the very next station. This item was deferred for a one time flight from a non-maintenance station to a certified maintenance station for a fix.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: AN ACR MAINT CTLR DICTATED IMPROPER PROCS TO A FLC.

Narrative: ON JUN/XX/94 AT AM45 THE FLC CALLED ME FOR A DEFERRAL OF AN APU FIRE TEST SYS INOP. MY DEFERRAL AUTH WAS DICTATED TO THE FLC OF FLT RESTR AND PROCS FOR FLT WITH APU INOP AND FIRE TEST INOP ON THE APU. THE CREW WAS TOLD OF PROCS TO PULL A CIRCUIT BREAKER AND PLACARD THE APU WITH INOP STICKERS. THE ONLY PROC WHICH WAS NOT TOLD TO DO WAS PULL THE LIGHT BULBS FROM THE APU FIRE HANDLE IN MY GOOD JUDGEMENT. THE BULBS DID NOT NEED TO BE PULLED BECAUSE THE LIGHTS WOULD NOT WORK BECAUSE THE CIRCUIT BREAKERS WERE PULLED. THE LIGHTS WOULD ONLY WORK IF THERE WAS ELECTRIC PWR TO THEM. THERE IS NO FLT SAFETY VIOLATION INVOLVED, ONLY A PROCEDURAL IRREGULARITY OF PULLING THE LIGHTS FROM THE APU FIRE HANDLE. WHATEVER THE FLC DID AFTER MY DICTATION OF INOP PROCS IS UNKNOWN TO ME. THIS IRREGULARITY WAS FOUND BY THE FAA AT THE VERY NEXT STATION. THIS ITEM WAS DEFERRED FOR A ONE TIME FLT FROM A NON-MAINT STATION TO A CERTIFIED MAINT STATION FOR A FIX.

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.