Narrative:

We were called out on aircraft X; first flight of the day; per maintenance control. 'Fluid coming from APU.' when we got there; the aft equipment bay door was open. I went to the flight deck and asked captain. He said he 'thought the leak was coming from the acm in the equipment bay; not the APU.' entered aft equipment bay; found no leaks; but moisture/condenser/unit; clamp to forward duct was loose; re-secured clamp. My partner handed me some rags. I told him to go get the logbook; as the plane was already boarded. I cleaned the moisture off the forward duct. Put the rags in my back pocket and slid down and out of aft equipment bay. My partner got back; I told him to check the equipment bay. He said he was ok with it. I closed the aft equipment bay; but I was not aware of this. Rag found aft equipment bay. That affected rudder travel. Callback conversation with reporter revealed the following information: reporter stated the crj-700 flight crew had experienced stiff rudder travel after the aircraft had left his station. The downline station had found a colored rag lodged in a rudder cable pulley; in the lower area of the aft equipment bay; where the rudder cables exit the aft pressure bulkhead and turn at the pulley; where the rag was found; to come up along the vertical aft bulkhead to the tail. Reporter stated each station has different colored rags and the one found came from his station. Many mechanics who carry rags; frequently enter the same area to check the hydraulic overspill containers. He has decided not to carry any rags into the area since. His carrier has included the event in their alert bulletins.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A Mechanic reports he was informed a rag was found in the aft equipment bay of a CRJ-700; by a downline station; after he had been working in the same area. The rag affected the aircraft's rudder travel.

Narrative: We were called out on Aircraft X; first flight of the day; per Maintenance Control. 'Fluid coming from APU.' When we got there; the aft equipment bay door was open. I went to the flight deck and asked Captain. He said he 'thought the leak was coming from the ACM in the equipment bay; not the APU.' Entered aft equipment bay; found no leaks; but moisture/condenser/unit; clamp to forward duct was loose; re-secured clamp. My partner handed me some rags. I told him to go get the logbook; as the plane was already boarded. I cleaned the moisture off the forward duct. Put the rags in my back pocket and slid down and out of aft equipment bay. My partner got back; I told him to check the equipment bay. He said he was OK with it. I closed the aft equipment bay; but I was not aware of this. Rag found aft equipment bay. That affected rudder travel. Callback conversation with Reporter revealed the following information: Reporter stated the CRJ-700 Flight Crew had experienced stiff rudder travel after the aircraft had left his station. The downline station had found a colored rag lodged in a rudder cable pulley; in the lower area of the aft equipment bay; where the rudder cables exit the aft pressure bulkhead and turn at the pulley; where the rag was found; to come up along the vertical aft bulkhead to the tail. Reporter stated each station has different colored rags and the one found came from his station. Many mechanics who carry rags; frequently enter the same area to check the hydraulic overspill containers. He has decided not to carry any rags into the area since. His carrier has included the event in their Alert Bulletins.

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.