A319 captain was informed prior to pushback that a passenger saw a red 'remove before flight' flag o...

Narrative:

Doors closed; communications with pushback crew established...waiting for pushback clearance. Flight attendant calls cockpit to inform us passenger claims to see a red flag on wing; flag says 'remove before flight.' pushback crew cannot verify because they cannot top of wing. Maintenance is called; ladder comes out; they verify flag and request dropping flaps and extend spoilers. Maintenance then reports the clasp attaching said flag to wing has punctured a spoiler panel. We are grounded. Aircraft had undergone a gear replacement two days earlier and then a 'weekly check' before return to service. Aircraft flew 2 days and 8 legs prior to my flight assignment with the 'remove before flight' streamer attached. Somebody failed to remove flag prior to flight. These things happen; but why backup procedures didn't catch it is troublesome.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A319 Captain was informed prior to pushback that a passenger saw a red 'Remove Before Flight' flag on the right wing. Maintenance was called and discovered spoiler damage caused by the flag attaching clip. Aircraft had undergone heavy maintenance two days prior and had flown eight legs since.

Narrative: Doors closed; communications with Pushback Crew established...waiting for pushback clearance. Flight Attendant calls cockpit to inform us passenger claims to see a red flag on wing; flag says 'Remove Before Flight.' Pushback Crew cannot verify because they cannot top of wing. Maintenance is called; ladder comes out; they verify flag and request dropping flaps and extend spoilers. Maintenance then reports the clasp attaching said flag to wing has punctured a spoiler panel. We are grounded. Aircraft had undergone a gear replacement two days earlier and then a 'weekly check' before return to service. Aircraft flew 2 days and 8 legs prior to my flight assignment with the 'Remove Before Flight' streamer attached. Somebody failed to remove flag prior to flight. These things happen; but why backup procedures didn't catch it is troublesome.

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	895116
Time
Date	201006
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	A319
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Parked
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Ground Spoiler
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Events
Anomaly	Deviation - Procedural Other / Unknown

A319 captain was informed prior to pushback that a passenger saw a red 'remove before flight' flag on the right wing. Maintenance was called and discovered spoiler damage caused by the flag attaching clip. Aircraft had undergone heavy maintenance two days prior and had flown eight legs since.