A B737-300 after painting was reported to have a missing rudder balance tag.

Attributes
ACN	485046
Time
Date	200009
Day	Sat
Local Time Of Day	0601 To 1200
Place
Locale Reference	airport : zzz.airport
State Reference	US
Altitude	agl single value : 0
Environment
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Operator	common carrier : air carrier
Make Model Name	B737-300
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	ground : maintenance ground : parked
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	maintenance : technician
Qualification	technician : powerplant technician : airframe
Experience	maintenance technician : 14
ASRS Report	485046
Events
Anomaly	aircraft equipment problem : less severe non adherence : published procedure other anomaly other
Independent Detector	other other : person 1
Resolutory Action	none taken : detected after the fact
Consequence	other
Factors
Maintenance	performance deficiency : scheduled maintenance
Supplementary
Problem Areas	Maintenance Human Performance Company Aircraft
Primary Problem	Maintenance Human Performance

Narrative:

Aircraft air carrier xyz found rudder with no data plate or balance tag installed, data plate not required if rudder not gone through shop, but balance tag required after paint. This may be a fleet-wide problem, with all aircraft in B737 fleet except those that had rudder replacement after paint. Any rudder painted must be balanced by either the calculated or static method. Since there is no tag, the rudder should be removed for static balance, and all aircraft should be checked. I called the FAA and left a message on the 800 number for aircraft XXX. It went into service without the problem being corrected. Write-up was generated on xyz to wyyy.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B737-300 AFTER PAINTING WAS RPTED TO HAVE A MISSING RUDDER BAL TAG.

Narrative: ACFT ACR XYZ FOUND RUDDER WITH NO DATA PLATE OR BAL TAG INSTALLED, DATA PLATE NOT REQUIRED IF RUDDER NOT GONE THROUGH SHOP, BUT BAL TAG REQUIRED AFTER PAINT. THIS MAY BE A FLEET-WIDE PROB, WITH ALL ACFT IN B737 FLEET EXCEPT THOSE THAT HAD RUDDER REPLACEMENT AFTER PAINT. ANY RUDDER PAINTED MUST BE BALANCED BY EITHER THE CALCULATED OR STATIC METHOD. SINCE THERE IS NO TAG, THE RUDDER SHOULD BE REMOVED FOR STATIC BAL, AND ALL ACFT SHOULD BE CHKED. I CALLED THE FAA AND LEFT A MESSAGE ON THE 800 NUMBER FOR ACFT XXX. IT WENT INTO SVC WITHOUT THE PROB BEING CORRECTED. WRITE-UP WAS GENERATED ON XYZ TO WYYY.

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.