Narrative:

Flight diverted due to a passenger emergency. The aircraft made a hard overweight landing and also dragged the tailskid. I was assigned with another mechanic to do the necessary inspections. In the course of doing the inspection; we were interrupted and distracted by ramp personnel and flight crew members checking the tailskid area and asking questions about tailskid damage and when the aircraft could be returned to service. As a result; we missed a damaged area forward of the tailskid. After the aircraft landed in ZZZ; we were informed about the damage that had been missed. To avoid this situation we should have completely cleared the area of non-essential persons and baggage loading carts and equipment which were scattered around the aircraft. Supplemental information from acn 824707: I was distracted when I stopped to talk about the tailskid. Later; after the aircraft had landed in ZZZ1; I was informed of the damage in the aft belly; that I had missed. In the future; I will keep in mind the task at hand or make a notation regardless of who speaks to me.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Two mechanics are informed they missed a damaged section of the fuselage; caused by an overweight landing and tail skid being dragged on a B737-800; after aircraft diverted due to passenger emergency.

Narrative: Flight diverted due to a passenger emergency. The aircraft made a hard overweight landing and also dragged the tailskid. I was assigned with another Mechanic to do the necessary inspections. In the course of doing the inspection; we were interrupted and distracted by Ramp personnel and flight crew members checking the tailskid area and asking questions about tailskid damage and when the aircraft could be returned to service. As a result; we missed a damaged area forward of the tailskid. After the aircraft landed in ZZZ; we were informed about the damage that had been missed. To avoid this situation we should have completely cleared the area of non-essential persons and baggage loading carts and equipment which were scattered around the aircraft. Supplemental information from ACN 824707: I was distracted when I stopped to talk about the tailskid. Later; after the aircraft had landed in ZZZ1; I was informed of the damage in the aft belly; that I had missed. In the future; I will keep in mind the task at hand or make a notation regardless of who speaks to me.

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.