Narrative:

In march 2009 in the hangar the nose landing gear gravel guard on air carrier X was not installed and the aircraft left the hangar after being in the hangar for modifications. When I signed the qc block on the job card; it was and implication that the work being signed for was to just reconnect the nlg forward door rods and spring. Since the qc block was labeled rii; I was under the impression that I was signing just for making sure that the door rods and spring was installed correctly. It was my assumption that the gravel guard installation was going to be covered on a panel card.callback conversation with reporter revealed the following information: reporter stated the gravel guard is attached to the forward bulkhead in the nose landing gear wheel well with 7-8 fasteners. The guard protects the nose gear door actuating mechanism at the wheel well forward bulkhead from being jammed by debris; rocks or gravel. The job card they were completing was part of a modification that replaces the nose gear door open lock pin bushing assembly; with a new stainless steel pin. Reporter stated he doesn't know how many flights the dhc-8-400 flew before someone noticed the missing gravel guard. There are at least two factors that contributed to why the guard did not get installed. The job card procedure for installation of the new stainless steel pin and reconnection of the nose doors; rods and springs are under the required inspection item (rii) sign off block. But there is a reference in the same section; that refers them to another maintenance manual chapter that also includes reinstalling the gravel guard. But the gravel guard is not an rii item. Also during their C checks; the guard is removed and reinstalled; under a separate job card for the nose panels. Reporter stated their mistake was assuming the same procedure would be used during the pin modification. His carrier is considering revising their job card to have a separate sign-off item for the gravel guard installation when they are performing the stainless steel pin modification.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A Mechanic and Maintenance Inspector explain why a DHC-8-400 flew without the nose landing gear gravel guard installed; after they had signed-off paperwork that included the installation.

Narrative: In March 2009 in the hangar the nose landing gear gravel guard on ACR X was not installed and the aircraft left the hangar after being in the hangar for modifications. When I signed the QC block on the Job Card; It was and implication that the work being signed for was to just reconnect the NLG forward door rods and spring. Since the QC block was labeled RII; I was under the impression that I was signing just for making sure that the door rods and spring was installed correctly. It was my assumption that the gravel guard installation was going to be covered on a panel card.Callback conversation with reporter revealed the following information: Reporter stated the gravel guard is attached to the forward bulkhead in the nose landing gear wheel well with 7-8 fasteners. The guard protects the nose gear door actuating mechanism at the wheel well forward bulkhead from being jammed by debris; rocks or gravel. The job card they were completing was part of a modification that replaces the nose gear door open lock pin bushing assembly; with a new stainless steel pin. Reporter stated he doesn't know how many flights the DHC-8-400 flew before someone noticed the missing gravel guard. There are at least two factors that contributed to why the guard did not get installed. The Job Card procedure for installation of the new stainless steel pin and reconnection of the nose doors; rods and springs are under the Required Inspection Item (RII) sign off block. But there is a reference in the same section; that refers them to another Maintenance Manual chapter that also includes reinstalling the gravel guard. But the gravel guard is not an RII item. Also during their C checks; the guard is removed and reinstalled; under a separate job card for the nose panels. Reporter stated their mistake was assuming the same procedure would be used during the pin modification. His carrier is considering revising their Job Card to have a separate sign-off item for the gravel guard installation when they are performing the stainless steel pin modification.

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.