Narrative:

As engineering department manager; during the 2005-2006 timeframe; I was heavily involved in the 3 interior modification programs in work on the B767-300 fleet as well as B777 delivery and modification requests which required that I also coordinate all of the other engineering representatives for these projects. There were many distractions; changes in personnel outside engineering; and inexperienced personnel to be dealt with. Compliance to 14CFR 25.1415 was one of the areas I was responsible to find compliance to on these projects. It deals with ensuring that the slide/raft capacity of the aircraft is sufficient to handle the passenger and crew under the consideration that one of the rafts is not available. I mistakenly assumed that the maximum passenger count certified under the type certificate for evacuation purposes was the value that the slide rafts installed on the aircraft had been designed for and knew that our passenger count in these configurations was well below that number. This was an incorrect assumption to make and I should have verified the actual slide capacity ratings to verify compliance which would have discovered the capacity shortage. Lessons learned from this timeframe have already driven changes to how certification projects are managed. ZZZ now has a dedicated certification coordinator. During the B757 certification project; my manager duties were delegated to another; to allow for full focus on the certification effort. During 2005-2006 a higher than usual volume of interior modifications with very short timeframes to complete were initiated across the air carrier fleet. Supplemental information from acn 821640: in addition to my engineering lead responsibilities; I was involved with numerous modification programs associated with the 767-300 fleet as well as the day-to-day activities associated with the maintenance of the widebody fleets at ZZZ. During this timeframe there were a lot of interruptions to my planned work scope to coordinate with persons outside of engineering; including air carrier; maintenance; and vendors working on the modification; and communications with experienced and inexperienced personnel within engineering. Compliance with 14CFR 25.1411 and 14CFR 25.1415 was one of the areas that I was responsible for. These fars deal with ensuring that the capacity of the slide/rafts is capable of meeting the number of occupants of the aircraft configuration and the situation that one of the largest slide/rafts is not available. I mistakenly assumed that the maximum occupancy certified under the type certificate for evacuation purposes was the value that the slide/rafts installed on the aircraft had been designed for and had confirmed that the passenger number was below the type certificate certified number. This was an incorrect assumption to make and I should have verified the actual raft capacity from the slide/raft manuals. If I would have verified the actual raft capacity; I would have determined the capacity shortage. Changes that have occurred since this event is that ZZZ now has a dedicated certification coordinator on site; which allows me to concentrate on the certification. This is an improvement. During the timeframe of this program; there were multiple modifications being conducted on air carrier fleets; all at different stages and having short timeframes. These programs stretched resources.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An Engineering Manager and Lead describe their involvement with mistakenly assuming that the maximum passenger count certified under the Type Certificate for evacuation purposes; was the value the slide/rafts installed on the B767-300 had been designed for.

Narrative: As Engineering Department Manager; during the 2005-2006 timeframe; I was heavily involved in the 3 interior modification programs in work on the B767-300 fleet as well as B777 delivery and modification requests which required that I also coordinate all of the other engineering representatives for these projects. There were many distractions; changes in personnel outside engineering; and inexperienced personnel to be dealt with. Compliance to 14CFR 25.1415 was one of the areas I was responsible to find compliance to on these projects. It deals with ensuring that the slide/raft capacity of the aircraft is sufficient to handle the passenger and crew under the consideration that one of the rafts is not available. I mistakenly assumed that the maximum passenger count certified under the Type Certificate for evacuation purposes was the value that the slide rafts installed on the aircraft had been designed for and knew that our passenger count in these configurations was well below that number. This was an incorrect assumption to make and I should have verified the actual slide capacity ratings to verify compliance which would have discovered the capacity shortage. Lessons learned from this timeframe have already driven changes to how certification projects are managed. ZZZ now has a dedicated certification coordinator. During the B757 certification project; my Manager duties were delegated to another; to allow for full focus on the certification effort. During 2005-2006 a higher than usual volume of interior modifications with very short timeframes to complete were initiated across the air carrier fleet. Supplemental information from ACN 821640: In addition to my Engineering Lead responsibilities; I was involved with numerous modification programs associated with the 767-300 fleet as well as the day-to-day activities associated with the maintenance of the widebody fleets at ZZZ. During this timeframe there were a lot of interruptions to my planned work scope to coordinate with persons outside of engineering; including air carrier; maintenance; and vendors working on the modification; and communications with experienced and inexperienced personnel within engineering. Compliance with 14CFR 25.1411 and 14CFR 25.1415 was one of the areas that I was responsible for. These FARs deal with ensuring that the capacity of the slide/rafts is capable of meeting the number of occupants of the aircraft configuration and the situation that one of the largest slide/rafts is not available. I mistakenly assumed that the maximum occupancy certified under the Type Certificate for evacuation purposes was the value that the slide/rafts installed on the aircraft had been designed for and had confirmed that the passenger number was below the Type Certificate certified number. This was an incorrect assumption to make and I should have verified the actual raft capacity from the slide/raft manuals. If I would have verified the actual raft capacity; I would have determined the capacity shortage. Changes that have occurred since this event is that ZZZ now has a dedicated Certification Coordinator on site; which allows me to concentrate on the Certification. This is an improvement. During the timeframe of this program; there were multiple modifications being conducted on air carrier fleets; all at different stages and having short timeframes. These programs stretched resources.

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.