Narrative:

I was assigned to work aircraft X. The aircraft was out of service for a dent in the right-hand side of the fuselage between forward cargo door and the mid cargo door approximately 18 inches aft of the right wing illumination light. I started by cleaning the area and checking for cracks and creases. I also checked for damaged fasteners and interior structure damage. During my inspection of the damage; the fleet engineer assigned; arrived at the aircraft to assist in the evaluation. The fleet engineer took pictures of the damage and sent the copies to the base engineers so that they had a visual of the damage. After consultation with the fleet engineer and base; the measurements and the reference were provided to me to be within limits per structural repair manual 53-04-00 figure 38; condition 1B. I proceeded by attaching a silver dot next to the damaged area and the fleet engineer added the damage to the damage log. I continued by signing the action taken block 'within structural repair manual limits; ok for service reference 53-04-00 figure 38 condition 1B.' supplemental information from acn 820675: I was asked by the hangar manager to work with a sheet metal mechanic to measure and take pictures of a fuselage dent just forward of the mid-cargo door on aircraft X. I took measurements and pictures of the dent and contacted technical specialist from the MD80 engineering desk and emailed him the internal and external pictures and dent measurements. Technical specialist reviewed the information I sent him and determined the dent to be within the structural repair manual limits. See the cut and pasted live out of service report. I provided the information given to me by engineering to the hangar shift manager. The item was subsequently signed off as within structural repair manual limits and a silver dot was applied to the dent. The hangar manager asked me to help him put the item on the aircraft damage log because he was having trouble putting it in. I entered the damage history into the log. Callback conversation with reporter acn 820675 revealed the following information: reporter stated his only involvement was helping the manager to put the information into their maintenance database. An FAA inspector originally found the dent when the md-80 was at a departure gate and informed one of the gate mechanics about the damage. After all the measurements and pictures were taken and submitted to their fleet engineering group; the dent was approved for continued service and the repair deferred to the next heavy 'C' check. Reporter stated the same FAA inspector noticed the same md-80 at the gate two days later and wanted to know why the aircraft was not repaired. Mechanic replied the damage was within the structural repair manual limits for continued operation. Reporter stated the FAA inspector disagreed and shortly afterwards the md-80 was removed from service and an external fuselage skin repair was accomplished.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A Mechanic and Engineering Support Supervisor report on an MD-80 external fuselage dent damage between the forward cargo and mid cargo door.

Narrative: I was assigned to work Aircraft X. The aircraft was out of service for a dent in the right-hand side of the fuselage between forward cargo door and the mid cargo door approximately 18 inches aft of the right wing illumination light. I started by cleaning the area and checking for cracks and creases. I also checked for damaged fasteners and interior structure damage. During my inspection of the damage; the Fleet Engineer assigned; arrived at the aircraft to assist in the evaluation. The Fleet Engineer took pictures of the damage and sent the copies to the Base engineers so that they had a visual of the damage. After consultation with the Fleet Engineer and Base; the measurements and the Reference were provided to me to be within limits per Structural Repair Manual 53-04-00 Figure 38; condition 1B. I proceeded by attaching a silver dot next to the damaged area and the Fleet Engineer added the damage to the damage log. I continued by signing the action taken block 'within Structural Repair Manual limits; OK for service Reference 53-04-00 Figure 38 condition 1B.' Supplemental information from ACN 820675: I was asked by the Hangar Manager to work with a sheet metal mechanic to measure and take pictures of a fuselage dent just forward of the mid-cargo door on Aircraft X. I took measurements and pictures of the dent and contacted Technical Specialist from the MD80 engineering desk and emailed him the internal and external pictures and dent measurements. Technical Specialist reviewed the information I sent him and determined the dent to be within the Structural Repair Manual limits. See the cut and pasted live out of service report. I provided the information given to me by Engineering to the Hangar Shift Manager. The item was subsequently signed off as within Structural Repair Manual limits and a silver dot was applied to the dent. The Hangar Manager asked me to help him put the item on the aircraft damage log because he was having trouble putting it in. I entered the damage history into the log. Callback conversation with Reporter ACN 820675 revealed the following information: Reporter stated his only involvement was helping the Manager to put the information into their maintenance database. An FAA Inspector originally found the dent when the MD-80 was at a departure gate and informed one of the gate mechanics about the damage. After all the measurements and pictures were taken and submitted to their Fleet Engineering group; the dent was approved for continued service and the repair deferred to the next heavy 'C' check. Reporter stated the same FAA Inspector noticed the same MD-80 at the gate two days later and wanted to know why the aircraft was not repaired. Mechanic replied the damage was within the Structural Repair Manual limits for continued operation. Reporter stated the FAA Inspector disagreed and shortly afterwards the MD-80 was removed from service and an external fuselage skin repair was accomplished.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.