Narrative:

During the preflight first officer found a couple of oil leaks. A mechanic came out to fix the leaks and ask us to shut down the right pack while he worked on the source. During the work the gate agent asked if all was well and could she close the door. Because the mechanic had used the maintenance recall functions on the computer and I did not know if he would need to look at them again; I said no. The gate agent reported the situation to company. After sitting for a while the gate agent came back and said company said the leaked was fixed and to close the door. I said ok; and she did close the door. We received a release stating the mechanic had tightened a fitting and the aircraft was cleared to go. The jet bridge pulled back and I turned the pack back on and was waiting for my push crew check in. Shortly thereafter the mechanic came on the headset and said he was still working on the leak and he didn't tell me to turn the pack on. I informed him that we were told the work was done and we also had a current release so stating. There was no answer to that fact but I turned the pack back off and asked the mechanic to personally inform me when he was done. While I waited for the mechanic to finish I call maintenance on the radio to inform them as to what just happened. The dispatcher said the mechanic's lead must have signed off the work early to expedite the departure. First I thought; with the exception of work that required supervisory inspection; the person who did the repairs signed off his own work and work is never signed off before complete for any reason. The potential for a serious injury to occur during this event is obvious.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A320 flight crew received an updated release at the gate stating all work was complete and they were ready to go after a Mechanic had worked on a leak found during preflight. The crew prepared to depart; which required turning on the air conditioning pack that had been turned off for maintenance; little did they know the Mechanic was still working and the release was prematurely issued from higher ups.

Narrative: During the preflight First Officer found a couple of oil leaks. A Mechanic came out to fix the leaks and ask us to shut down the right pack while he worked on the source. During the work the Gate Agent asked if all was well and could she close the door. Because the Mechanic had used the maintenance recall functions on the computer and I did not know if he would need to look at them again; I said no. The Gate Agent reported the situation to company. After sitting for a while the Gate Agent came back and said Company said the leaked was fixed and to close the door. I said OK; and she did close the door. We received a release stating the Mechanic had tightened a fitting and the aircraft was cleared to go. The jet bridge pulled back and I turned the pack back on and was waiting for my push crew check in. Shortly thereafter the Mechanic came on the headset and said he was still working on the leak and he didn't tell me to turn the pack on. I informed him that we were told the work was done and we also had a current release so stating. There was no answer to that fact but I turned the pack back off and asked the Mechanic to personally inform me when he was done. While I waited for the Mechanic to finish I call maintenance on the radio to inform them as to what just happened. The Dispatcher said the Mechanic's lead must have signed off the work early to expedite the departure. First I thought; with the exception of work that required supervisory inspection; the person who did the repairs signed off his own work and work is never signed off before complete for any reason. The potential for a serious injury to occur during this event is obvious.

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.