Narrative:

There was a need in the repair shop to FLIP (turn over) a B747 and a B757 engine inlet [cowling/nacelle]. One hoist was hooked to the tooling on the outside of the unit [nacelle] and another sling was hooked to a bar bolted across the bulkhead side of the unit. At that point the two different hoists were used to lift the unit off the table and proceeded to flip them. The hoist cables were being pulled at approximately a 45 degree angle which is a violation of the proper use of the hoists. There is an osha card attached to the hoist specifically telling the operator to only pull vertically and to never pull a side load. On the B747 unit the hoist cable was actually run underneath the unit and they had to put a cushion under the cable to protect the unit. The cable was actually being pulled in what looked like a letter 'J'. We have discussed this issue numerous times in the shop and all of the mechanics on dayshift and most of the mechanics on swing shift refuse to use this procedure. The unit was also lifted above head height and a lead went under the unit while it was suspended by two hoists being pulled in a 45 degree direction; putting the unit and lead in danger. We asked the lead to stop and he refused; stating he has done this for 20 years with no problem. After doing this with a B747 inlet; the same procedure was done on a B757 inlet as well last night.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A Mechanic working in his Air Carrier's Repair Shop reports about the improper use of Hoist cables to flip B747 and B757 nose Inlet nacelle cowlings on a table. The Hoist cables were being pulled at approximately a 45-degree angle; instead of only vertically; as mandated by the OSHA card attached to the Hoist and company procedures.

Narrative: There was a need in the Repair Shop to FLIP (turn over) a B747 and a B757 engine Inlet [cowling/nacelle]. One hoist was hooked to the tooling on the outside of the Unit [nacelle] and another sling was hooked to a bar bolted across the bulkhead side of the Unit. At that point the two different hoists were used to lift the Unit off the table and proceeded to flip them. The Hoist cables were being pulled at approximately a 45 degree angle which is a violation of the proper use of the hoists. There is an OSHA Card attached to the hoist specifically telling the Operator to only pull vertically and to never pull a side load. On the B747 Unit the hoist cable was actually run underneath the Unit and they had to put a cushion under the cable to protect the Unit. The cable was actually being pulled in what looked like a letter 'J'. We have discussed this issue numerous times in the Shop and all of the Mechanics on Dayshift and most of the Mechanics on Swing shift refuse to use this Procedure. The Unit was also lifted above head height and a Lead went under the Unit while it was suspended by two hoists being pulled in a 45 degree direction; putting the Unit and Lead in danger. We asked the Lead to stop and he refused; stating he has done this for 20 years with no problem. After doing this with a B747 Inlet; the same procedure was done on a B757 Inlet as well last night.

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.