Narrative:

Aircraft pushed for departure without having a maintenance walkaround signed off. Pushback crew notified the captain that a nose tire appeared to have metal tread showing. The first officer found no problem with the nose tires on his walkaround. When contacted, maintenance control said no discrepancy had been noted on the walkaround -- then corrected themselves to say the walkaround had not been done, please return to the gate. The aircraft returned to the gate. A maintenance walkaround was completed and signed off (the tire was fine), and the flight continued. Contributing factor: the captain had been distraction over not being able to contact operations by phone to have paperwork sent to the D10 printer. As a result, he failed to recognize the latest mig 2 [maintenance release document] signoff had been done.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B737-400 WAS DISPATCHED IN NON COMPLIANCE WITH THE MAINT RELEASE NOT SIGNED IN THE FLT LOGBOOK. WALKAROUND INSPECTION NOT ACCOMPLISHED.

Narrative: ACFT PUSHED FOR DEP WITHOUT HAVING A MAINT WALKAROUND SIGNED OFF. PUSHBACK CREW NOTIFIED THE CAPT THAT A NOSE TIRE APPEARED TO HAVE METAL TREAD SHOWING. THE FO FOUND NO PROB WITH THE NOSE TIRES ON HIS WALKAROUND. WHEN CONTACTED, MAINT CTL SAID NO DISCREPANCY HAD BEEN NOTED ON THE WALKAROUND -- THEN CORRECTED THEMSELVES TO SAY THE WALKAROUND HAD NOT BEEN DONE, PLEASE RETURN TO THE GATE. THE ACFT RETURNED TO THE GATE. A MAINT WALKAROUND WAS COMPLETED AND SIGNED OFF (THE TIRE WAS FINE), AND THE FLT CONTINUED. CONTRIBUTING FACTOR: THE CAPT HAD BEEN DISTR OVER NOT BEING ABLE TO CONTACT OPS BY PHONE TO HAVE PAPERWORK SENT TO THE D10 PRINTER. AS A RESULT, HE FAILED TO RECOGNIZE THE LATEST MIG 2 [MAINT RELEASE DOCUMENT] SIGNOFF HAD BEEN DONE.

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.