Narrative:

As first officer I conduct the preflight exterior inspection. During my walk around the fueler addressed me and said that the number 4 tire looked odd. It was dark and the tire seemed to display mostly normal characteristics to me. I acknowledged his input and continued my walk around...occasionally looking back toward the number 4 tire. It is important to note that it was very early on my body clock following a short (10 hr block to block) layover; which included perhaps 4-5 hours of true sleep (not bad). Finally shaking off the cobwebs and recognizing that if someone expresses concern--I should really pursue to satisfaction whatever decision I have made; I conducted a gauge check of the number 4 tire. Our company has recently removed the responsibility for the flight officer conducting the exterior inspection to check the tire pressure gauges. This gauge indicated 80 psi....normal would be in the area of 200 psi. The tire was not significantly misshapen. If the fueler had not mentioned his observations to me; it would have been very likely that we would have taxied and departed with a seriously deficient tire. The tire was brand new--it had been replaced the night before; after the aircraft's last leg. The removal of the inspection of the tire gauge pressure is potentially dangerous--I could not truly notice a significant difference between all four tires (fatigue; lighting; etc..) this fueler saved us from a dangerous situation. We should always listen to the comments made by other folks who spend their days around aircraft too.

Related reports:

Google
 

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An A320 First Officer reported being alerted to a tire problem by a fueler during his walk around inspection. He found the new tire inflated to 80 PSI vice the normal 200 PSI; tire pressure gauge inspection is no longer part of the normal walk around responsibility.

Narrative: As First Officer I conduct the preflight exterior inspection. During my walk around the fueler addressed me and said that the number 4 tire looked odd. It was dark and the tire seemed to display mostly normal characteristics to me. I acknowledged his input and continued my walk around...occasionally looking back toward the number 4 tire. It is important to note that it was very early on my body clock following a short (10 hr block to block) layover; which included perhaps 4-5 hours of true sleep (not bad). Finally shaking off the cobwebs and recognizing that if someone expresses concern--I should really pursue to satisfaction whatever decision I have made; I conducted a gauge check of the number 4 tire. Our company has recently removed the responsibility for the flight officer conducting the exterior inspection to check the tire pressure gauges. This gauge indicated 80 PSI....normal would be in the area of 200 PSI. The tire was not significantly misshapen. If the fueler had not mentioned his observations to me; it would have been very likely that we would have taxied and departed with a seriously deficient tire. The tire was brand new--it had been replaced the night before; after the aircraft's last leg. The removal of the inspection of the tire gauge pressure is potentially dangerous--I could not truly notice a significant difference between all four tires (fatigue; lighting; etc..) This fueler saved us from a dangerous situation. We should always listen to the comments made by other folks who spend their days around aircraft too.

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.