Narrative:

The aircraft arrived with an open log item pertaining to the fuel numbers having to be inputted manually in the captain's fuel pred page after engine start. This item was cleared maintenance and a new release was issued. On pushback; the same issue occurred on engine start. As per procedure; we informed maintenance control and entered a maintenance code in ACARS. Maintenance control had no solutions other than to defer the captain's FMGC. The local weather at the time precluded this from being an option and still operating the flight in compliance with the MEL. Aircraft returned to gate. Captain's FMGC was replaced; pushback and start revealed the issue still not repaired. A shut down and reset of the fuel circuit breaker's was attempted as directed by maintenance control with no luck. Aircraft returned to the gate for a second time. The fuel quantity indication computer (fqic) was re-racked. It was recommended it be changed but; of course; no parts were available. There was a MEL open on the aircraft pertaining to fuel tank temp sensors so the guess was the fqic was bad; or getting that way. The re-rack eliminated the fuel temp sensor issue so an engine start was required to test the system. Captain was requested to do run-up; he politely declined. During multiple engine starts by maintenance; captain researched the flight manual and referenced the mechanics to the pertinent pages. For some reason the ff+fq message at 3R on the fuel pred page was not in view (ramp mechanic said this comes directly from the fqic). When the engines were started with init-B page displayed and it auto changed over to the fuel pred page; the fob that is always displayed under normal ops was boxes awaiting input. When ff+fq was manually inputted; the system seemed to work normally and the flight was dispatched to ZZZ. Maintenance asked who was going to get the delay for this. I said I had no clue and he said he was going to recommend the crew get it as the ff+fq message was in our flight manual and we should have known the issue. I find this ridiculous as this is not a normal procedure and maintenance control had no input as to what was causing the problem; although it was obviously a faulty fuel computer. My co-pilot is a recent A-320 instructor and he had no knowledge of the prompt either. In normal ops it is always displayed and an en route check by the crew shows it can not be deleted manually by the crew. Once jetway was removed the aircraft displayed a brake SYS2 inoperative message. A phone patch to maintenance control allowed us to reset the system and continue. Aircraft went out CAT1 only as the FMGC change required a CAT3 check and no one was qualified to do so. Captain requested a CAT3 certification in ZZZ prior to returning to ZZZ1; which had low ceilings and vis. Inbound to ZZZ; the first officer's mcdu went totally dead. After a very smooth landing; the captain's sun visor fell off into his lap. Upon changing the first officer's mcdu; the ramp mechanic noticed a plastic shield on the wire bundle was broken. He removed it and repaired it with tape. The fqic was also changed in ZZZ. CAT3 check accomplished quickly and efficiently also. We were told a release was on its way shortly and we pushed back and started in an attempt to minimize any further delay. We were almost 4 hours late by now. Multiple requests for release showed it still not available and then we were advised that the fix for the mcdu wire bundle was not in accordance with procedure and the mcdu was going to have to be deferred inoperative. The weather in ZZZ1 still did not allow dispatch with single FMGC; so a plane change was in order; the aircraft was returned to the gate yet again. We sadly left this aircraft in the hands of the ZZZ maintenance staff. Our experience with this aircraft can easily be classified as an ordeal. Multiple returns have a draining effect on crew alertness as well as morale. The crew worked non-stop through this whole issue. After the 3rd return; an attempt to contact the duty manager was unsuccessful as he did not answer his phone. Crew decided to continue however and we were assigned a dead head; vice fly our last leg. This whole report could have been avoided had the fqic been stocked and swapped out in ZZZ1.

Related reports:

Google
 

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A320 Captain experiences multiple maintenance delays related to fuel computer and FMGC malfunctions and failures.

Narrative: The aircraft arrived with an open log item pertaining to the fuel numbers having to be inputted manually in the Captain's fuel PRED page after engine start. This item was cleared maintenance and a new release was issued. On pushback; the same issue occurred on engine start. As per procedure; we informed Maintenance Control and entered a maintenance code in ACARS. Maintenance Control had no solutions other than to defer the Captain's FMGC. The local weather at the time precluded this from being an option and still operating the flight in compliance with the MEL. Aircraft returned to gate. Captain's FMGC was replaced; pushback and start revealed the issue still not repaired. A shut down and reset of the fuel CB's was attempted as directed by Maintenance Control with no luck. Aircraft returned to the gate for a second time. The Fuel Quantity Indication Computer (FQIC) was re-racked. It was recommended it be changed but; of course; no parts were available. There was a MEL open on the aircraft pertaining to fuel tank temp sensors so the guess was the FQIC was bad; or getting that way. The re-rack eliminated the fuel temp sensor issue so an engine start was required to test the system. Captain was requested to do run-up; he politely declined. During multiple engine starts by maintenance; Captain researched the flight manual and referenced the Mechanics to the pertinent pages. For some reason the FF+FQ message at 3R on the fuel PRED page was not in view (Ramp Mechanic said this comes directly from the FQIC). When the engines were started with INIT-B page displayed and it auto changed over to the fuel PRED page; the FOB that is always displayed under normal ops was boxes awaiting input. When FF+FQ was manually inputted; the system seemed to work normally and the flight was dispatched to ZZZ. Maintenance asked who was going to get the delay for this. I said I had no clue and he said he was going to recommend the crew get it as the FF+FQ message was in our Flight Manual and we should have known the issue. I find this ridiculous as this is not a normal procedure and Maintenance Control had no input as to what was causing the problem; although it was obviously a faulty fuel computer. My co-pilot is a recent A-320 instructor and he had no knowledge of the prompt either. In normal ops it is always displayed and an en route check by the crew shows it can not be deleted manually by the crew. Once jetway was removed the aircraft displayed a Brake SYS2 INOP message. A phone patch to Maintenance Control allowed us to reset the system and continue. Aircraft went out CAT1 only as the FMGC change required a CAT3 check and no one was qualified to do so. Captain requested a CAT3 certification in ZZZ prior to returning to ZZZ1; which had low ceilings and vis. Inbound to ZZZ; the First Officer's MCDU went totally dead. After a very smooth landing; the Captain's sun visor fell off into his lap. Upon changing the First Officer's MCDU; the Ramp Mechanic noticed a plastic shield on the wire bundle was broken. He removed it and repaired it with tape. The FQIC was also changed in ZZZ. CAT3 check accomplished quickly and efficiently also. We were told a release was on its way shortly and we pushed back and started in an attempt to minimize any further delay. We were almost 4 hours late by now. Multiple requests for release showed it still not available and then we were advised that the fix for the MCDU wire bundle was not in accordance with procedure and the MCDU was going to have to be deferred INOP. The weather in ZZZ1 still did not allow dispatch with single FMGC; so a plane change was in order; the aircraft was returned to the gate yet again. We sadly left this aircraft in the hands of the ZZZ Maintenance staff. Our experience with this aircraft can easily be classified as an ordeal. Multiple returns have a draining effect on crew alertness as well as morale. The crew worked non-stop through this whole issue. After the 3rd return; an attempt to contact the duty manager was unsuccessful as he did not answer his phone. Crew decided to continue however and we were assigned a dead head; vice fly our last leg. This whole report could have been avoided had the FQIC been stocked and swapped out in ZZZ1.

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.