A mechanic recently promoted to supervisor; reports he mistakenly removed the steering bypass pin in...

Narrative:

I mistakenly removed the steering bypass pin instead of the nose landing gear (nlg) downlock pin. I had already removed the main gear downlock pins. The flag (streamer) for the downlock pin was not visible. I had three pins and stowed them in the cockpit. Aircraft did an air return for a no; nlg retraction. I had just (recently) received training for this B737-700 type. I have worked in the engine shop for over 20 years and have not had a lot of hands-on airframe experience. I have just recently been assigned to supervise the service crew. Reviewed the procedures for removing the gear downlock pins and have gotten more familiar with these. All power was removed from aircraft and it was still dark. I was trying to be proactive to get the aircraft done and back in service.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A Mechanic recently promoted to Supervisor; reports he mistakenly removed the steering bypass pin instead of the nose landing gear (NLG) pin. The streamer for the downlock pin was not visible; the flight crew did an air turnback for a NO; NLG retraction.

Narrative: I mistakenly removed the steering bypass pin instead of the nose landing gear (NLG) downlock pin. I had already removed the main gear downlock pins. The flag (streamer) for the downlock pin was not visible. I had three pins and stowed them in the cockpit. Aircraft did an air return for a NO; NLG retraction. I had just (recently) received training for this B737-700 type. I have worked in the engine shop for over 20 years and have not had a lot of hands-on airframe experience. I have just recently been assigned to supervise the service crew. Reviewed the procedures for removing the gear downlock pins and have gotten more familiar with these. All power was removed from aircraft and it was still dark. I was trying to be proactive to get the aircraft done and back in service.

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	872474
Time
Date	201001
Local Time Of Day	0001-0600
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Light	Night
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B737-700
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Parked
Component
Aircraft Component	Nose Gear
Person 1
Function	Other / Unknown
Qualification	Maintenance Powerplant Maintenance Airframe
Experience	Maintenance Repairman 5 Maintenance Technician 5
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy

A mechanic recently promoted to supervisor; reports he mistakenly removed the steering bypass pin instead of the nose landing gear (nlg) pin. The streamer for the downlock pin was not visible; the flight crew did an air turnback for a no; nlg retraction.