A mechanic describes the oil and nitrogen servicing of a crj-200 nose landing gear (nlg) that he and...

Narrative:

I assisted mechanic 'X' with the strut servicing of a crj-200 aircraft. I was not immediately present when he released the air pressure from the nose gear strut schrader valve. However; the strut was fully collapsed and did not appear to have any remaining air inside. Mechanic 'X' did comment that the schrader valve did not seem normal. When it came time to service the strut with fluid it took numerous pumps; more than twenty to fill the strut. He stopped pumping the bowser when the strut began to lift off of the bottom of its fully collapsed position. He then capped the strut and serviced it with nitrogen to the correct extension. At the time; it seemed to be fine.in retrospect; I remember that when we filled the strut with air; it seemed to respond too quickly to the pressure suggesting that the strut might not have been fully serviced with fluid. This was noted as odd but we did not act upon it as I though that it might have been a problem or characteristic of the nitrogen cart regulator and he was still suspecting a problem with the schrader valve. The plane was towed to the gate and no anomaly was noted. [Aircraft later made] an air turnback.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A Mechanic describes the oil and nitrogen servicing of a CRJ-200 Nose Landing Gear (NLG) that he and another Mechanic completed prior to the aircraft being towed to a gate. The CRJ-200 flight crew performed an air turnback shortly after.

Narrative: I assisted mechanic 'X' with the strut servicing of a CRJ-200 aircraft. I was not immediately present when he released the air pressure from the nose gear strut Schrader valve. However; the strut was fully collapsed and did not appear to have any remaining air inside. Mechanic 'X' did comment that the Schrader valve did not seem normal. When it came time to service the strut with fluid it took numerous pumps; more than twenty to fill the strut. He stopped pumping the bowser when the strut began to lift off of the bottom of its fully collapsed position. He then capped the strut and serviced it with nitrogen to the correct extension. At the time; it seemed to be fine.In retrospect; I remember that when we filled the strut with air; it seemed to respond too quickly to the pressure suggesting that the strut might not have been fully serviced with fluid. This was noted as odd but we did not act upon it as I though that it might have been a problem or characteristic of the nitrogen cart regulator and he was still suspecting a problem with the Schrader valve. The plane was towed to the gate and no anomaly was noted. [Aircraft later made] an air turnback.

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	896368
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	Regional Jet 200 ER/LR (CRJ200)
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Parked
Component
Aircraft Component	Nose Gear
Person 1
Function	Technician
Qualification	Maintenance Airframe Maintenance Powerplant
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy

A mechanic describes the oil and nitrogen servicing of a crj-200 nose landing gear (nlg) that he and another mechanic completed prior to the aircraft being towed to a gate. The crj-200 flight crew performed an air turnback shortly after.