Narrative:

I was handed an engineering order by my supervisor and was asked to see if the damage fell into the engineering order's category. I then went to the aircraft; looked at the damage and found a chunk of metal missing; with cracks extending outward from the gouge. After measuring the damage; I then followed the engineering order's steps and blended the damage so as to not damage the rubber seal. Following along with the engineering order; I then inspected the damage after being upgraded to rii for the engineering order; pressurization run was applicable for cracks and dents so I ran a pressurization run with the APU at the gate following the guidelines of the aircraft maintenance manual for pressurization runs. I didn't find any issues with the pressurization run; though I did hear a whistling coming from the area. At the time; no sunlight was visible but the sun was going down and I was on my own in the aircraft with a new mechanic outside to make sure no one would open the door in the process. Two new mechanics were sent with us; but didn't do any of the work. Mr. Y assisted in the blending/de-burring process but only helped me with it because he had a dremmel tool to do so. Also; the event took place on the gate at ZZZ mid afternoon. I do not have a sheet metal background or at least an extensive one. I asked question after question about the paperwork and the procedures due to the fact that I have never dealt with that kind of damage. I realize now that I should have just downed the plane and sent it to our hangar for damage repair. I now realize that the engineering order stated that it was for cracks and dents; and not for gouges. I was informed by a fellow mechanic that they had dealt with something like it a few days before this incident and they brought it to the hangar. This happened after the aircraft was already inflight though. Suggestions: step in and say I am not signing this off; the damage is not pertaining to the engineering order and send it to the hangar area for repair. Callback conversation with reporter revealed the following information: reporter stated the chunk of missing metal and skin gouge was located at the forward entry door near the door pressure seal. He was given the wrong engineering order (eo) to follow by his supervisor; but did not realize that; until after he had signed-off the logbook; using the eo number that later turned out to be incorrect for the type of skin damage he worked.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: While following an Engineering Order (EO) given to him by his Supervisor; a Mechanic working external fuselage skin damage on a CRJ-200; realizes later the EO was for cracks and dents; not skin gouges or missing skin metal.

Narrative: I was handed an Engineering Order by my Supervisor and was asked to see if the damage fell into the Engineering Order's category. I then went to the aircraft; looked at the damage and found a chunk of metal missing; with cracks extending outward from the gouge. After measuring the damage; I then followed the Engineering Order's steps and blended the damage so as to not damage the rubber seal. Following along with the Engineering Order; I then inspected the damage after being upgraded to RII for the Engineering Order; pressurization run was applicable for cracks and dents so I ran a pressurization run with the APU at the gate following the guidelines of the Aircraft Maintenance Manual for pressurization runs. I didn't find any issues with the pressurization run; though I did hear a whistling coming from the area. At the time; no sunlight was visible but the sun was going down and I was on my own in the aircraft with a new Mechanic outside to make sure no one would open the door in the process. Two new mechanics were sent with us; but didn't do any of the work. Mr. Y assisted in the blending/de-burring process but only helped me with it because he had a dremmel tool to do so. Also; the event took place on the gate at ZZZ mid afternoon. I do not have a sheet metal background or at least an extensive one. I asked question after question about the paperwork and the procedures due to the fact that I have never dealt with that kind of damage. I realize now that I should have just downed the plane and sent it to our hangar for damage repair. I now realize that the Engineering Order stated that it was for cracks and dents; and not for gouges. I was informed by a fellow Mechanic that they had dealt with something like it a few days before this incident and they brought it to the hangar. This happened after the aircraft was already inflight though. Suggestions: Step in and say I am not signing this off; the damage is not pertaining to the Engineering Order and send it to the hangar area for repair. Callback conversation with Reporter revealed the following information: Reporter stated the chunk of missing metal and skin gouge was located at the forward entry door near the door pressure seal. He was given the wrong Engineering Order (EO) to follow by his Supervisor; but did not realize that; until after he had signed-off the logbook; using the EO number that later turned out to be incorrect for the type of skin damage he worked.

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.