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B407 director of maintenance approved an unairworthy operation of the helicopter to 'avoid inconveniencing the owner.'
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 557867 |
| Time | |
| Date | 200208 |
| Day | Thu |
| Local Time Of Day | 1801 To 2400 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | airport : zzz.airport |
| State Reference | US |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Operator | general aviation : corporate |
| Make Model Name | Bell 47 |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 91 |
| Flight Phase | ground : parked |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | other personnel other |
| Qualification | technician : powerplant technician : airframe |
| ASRS Report | 557867 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | maintenance problem : improper maintenance non adherence : far non adherence : published procedure other anomaly other |
| Independent Detector | other other : 2 |
| Resolutory Action | none taken : detected after the fact |
| Consequence | faa : investigated faa : assigned or threatened penalties other |
| Factors | |
| Maintenance | contributing factor : schedule pressure performance deficiency : non compliance with legal requirements performance deficiency : repair |
| Supplementary | |
| Problem Areas | Company Maintenance Human Performance Aircraft |
| Primary Problem | Company |
Narrative:
Aircraft was flown twice with known unairworthy part. Transmission isolation mount was deteriorated due to contamination with grease. Inspection after cleanup revealed rubber material missing. Maintenance manual referenced allowable amount, which was exceeded. My decision was to delay replacement until after scheduled trips for wkend, to avoid inconveniencing owner. Manufacturer approval is required to ignore defects that are clearly beyond their recommendations and address issue later. I didn't feel flight safety was even a question to go through this troublesome step, therefore, dispatched aircraft that was, by far, unairworthy. Future instances of violating far ruling can be avoided by either acquiring manufacturer and FAA approval and/or grounding aircraft until repair is addressed.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: B407 DIRECTOR OF MAINT APPROVED AN UNAIRWORTHY OP OF THE HELI TO 'AVOID INCONVENIENCING THE OWNER.'
Narrative: ACFT WAS FLOWN TWICE WITH KNOWN UNAIRWORTHY PART. XMISSION ISOLATION MOUNT WAS DETERIORATED DUE TO CONTAMINATION WITH GREASE. INSPECTION AFTER CLEANUP REVEALED RUBBER MATERIAL MISSING. MAINT MANUAL REFED ALLOWABLE AMOUNT, WHICH WAS EXCEEDED. MY DECISION WAS TO DELAY REPLACEMENT UNTIL AFTER SCHEDULED TRIPS FOR WKEND, TO AVOID INCONVENIENCING OWNER. MANUFACTURER APPROVAL IS REQUIRED TO IGNORE DEFECTS THAT ARE CLRLY BEYOND THEIR RECOMMENDATIONS AND ADDRESS ISSUE LATER. I DIDN'T FEEL FLT SAFETY WAS EVEN A QUESTION TO GO THROUGH THIS TROUBLESOME STEP, THEREFORE, DISPATCHED ACFT THAT WAS, BY FAR, UNAIRWORTHY. FUTURE INSTANCES OF VIOLATING FAR RULING CAN BE AVOIDED BY EITHER ACQUIRING MANUFACTURER AND FAA APPROVAL AND/OR GNDING ACFT UNTIL REPAIR IS ADDRESSED.
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.