A tardy response to the flight crew's request for maintenance on a faulty cowling latch contributes ...

Narrative:

On return from the walk-around the first officer thought one cowling latch might be loose on the right engine. We called maintenance approximately thirty-five minutes before departure; but did not send a computer maintenance code. After fifteen minutes passed we had heard nothing back from maintenance; and decided we were probably in error by not sending in an computer maintenance code on the cowling latch. It was now 20 min prior to departure time; we followed up the computer maintenance code with a radio call to maintenance. After another ten minutes we still had not received a new maintenance release and I again radioed maintenance that the agent was getting ready to close the door; and that we needed the maintenance release. Finally at ten minutes past scheduled departure; we saw the maintenance release rolling off the printer. We then called ramp tower for pushback. Ramp tower cleared us to push. Per SOP; the tug crew cleared us to release brakes. At that point the first officer said he saw a mechanic on a lift near the forward cargo door in the reflection of the terminal windows. The tug crew never mentioned seeing him at all. I immediately canceled the pushback over the interphone and reset the brakes. We had never moved but it was way too close. Communication external to the cockpit broke down very badly; I'm not sure why the push-crew never saw the mechanic on a lift up to the airplane; I also don't understand why it took over 30 min to receive a new maintenance release for a simple cowling latch check; in spite of repeated radio calls about needing a new maintenance release. As for my part as the captain; I should have advocated to the first officer more forcefully the need to always send a computer maintenance code when contacting maintenance.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A tardy response to the Flight Crew's request for maintenance on a faulty cowling latch contributes to accepting a clearance for pushback with a maintenance crew on a lift at the forward cargo door.

Narrative: On return from the Walk-around the First Officer thought one cowling latch MIGHT be loose on the right engine. We called maintenance approximately thirty-five minutes before departure; but did not send a computer maintenance code. After fifteen minutes passed we had heard nothing back from Maintenance; and decided we were probably in error by not sending in an computer maintenance code on the cowling latch. It was now 20 min prior to departure time; we followed up the computer maintenance code with a radio call to maintenance. After another ten minutes we still had not received a new maintenance release and I again radioed maintenance that the agent was getting ready to close the door; and that we needed the maintenance release. Finally at ten minutes past scheduled departure; we saw the maintenance release rolling off the printer. We then called ramp tower for pushback. Ramp tower cleared us to push. Per SOP; the tug crew cleared us to release brakes. At that point The First Officer said he saw a mechanic on a lift near the forward cargo door in the reflection of the terminal windows. The tug crew never mentioned seeing him at all. I immediately canceled the pushback over the interphone and reset the brakes. We had never moved but it was way too close. Communication external to the cockpit broke down very badly; I'm not sure why the push-crew never saw the mechanic on a lift up to the airplane; I also don't understand why it took over 30 min to receive a new maintenance release for a simple cowling latch check; in spite of repeated radio calls about needing a new maintenance release. As for my part as the Captain; I should have advocated to the First Officer more forcefully the need to always send a computer maintenance code when contacting maintenance.

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.

Attributes
ACN	845615
Time
Date	200907
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B767-300 and 300 ER
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Parked
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Pylon Fasteners & Latches
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 170 Flight Crew Total 21800 Flight Crew Type 6000
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Ground Event / Encounter Other / Unknown

A tardy response to the flight crew's request for maintenance on a faulty cowling latch contributes to accepting a clearance for pushback with a maintenance crew on a lift at the forward cargo door.