Narrative:

While the technician was replacing a seatbelt in row 11-cde; he noticed that all three seatbelts in row 12- cde were 737 classic belts. While he was changing out those belts with new B737NG belts; he wrote down the part number (P/north) for the seat row. When he came back to the office he looked up in the illustrated parts catalog (ipc) and found that the P/north for that seat row should have been manufacturer (mfg) P/north 87822002. On the aircraft was mfg P/north 87525022; this P/north is applicable for a B737 classic aircraft. He subsequently removed the seat row. While waiting for the new seat row to show up; we noticed that the seat we removed had four different P/north placards. We figured out that a new P/north placard is placed onto the seat forward bottom tube each time it is modified. This still leads to a great deal of confusion; especially when the writing on the placards is worn away. We were then asked to verify the P/north's of all the seats on the aircraft. When we were done; we had 10-seat rows that had illegible P/north placards and found one seat row (15-def) with the completely wrong P/north even though the seat was properly configured for that location. After we removed the seat assembly in row-12 we found extensive damage to the seat tracks in the floor. It appears that some sort of sharp object had been used to remove the seat at some previous time and serious nicks and gouges were seen on the surface of the seat track. The difficulty removing the seat may have been caused by the different cross section of the seat track two inches forward of seat row-12 def; aft leg position. I believe that the procedure for changing the P/north of a seat should include some sort of way of showing on the original data plate that the P/north has been changed and that the previous P/north placards should be removed or shown to be no longer effective to that seat assembly. The fact that the seat assembly is allowed to have more than one data/ P/north placard should be avoided to prevent confusion. We also found many placards on that aircraft that were worn to the point where we were unable to ascertain what the proper P/north was. Also seat row-15 def was completely the wrong P/north; but it was evident that someone had 'changed' the P/north on the newest placard with some sort of marker.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A Line Mechanic reports finding B737 Classic seat row and seat belts installed on a B737NG aircraft. Mechanic also reports that more than one Data Part Number (P/N) placard have been found on the forward support tube of numerous seat rows that have been through third party Repair Station Overhaul Vendors. Multiple P/N placards contribute to incorrect seat belt and seat row installations.

Narrative: While the Technician was replacing a seatbelt in Row 11-CDE; he noticed that all three seatbelts in Row 12- CDE were 737 Classic belts. While he was changing out those belts with new B737NG belts; he wrote down the Part Number (P/N) for the seat row. When he came back to the office he looked up in the Illustrated Parts Catalog (IPC) and found that the P/N for that seat row should have been Manufacturer (MFG) P/N 87822002. On the aircraft was MFG P/N 87525022; this P/N is applicable for a B737 Classic aircraft. He subsequently removed the seat row. While waiting for the new seat row to show up; we noticed that the seat we removed had four different P/N placards. We figured out that a new P/N placard is placed onto the seat forward bottom tube each time it is modified. This still leads to a great deal of confusion; especially when the writing on the placards is worn away. We were then asked to verify the P/N's of all the seats on the aircraft. When we were done; we had 10-seat rows that had illegible P/N placards and found one seat row (15-DEF) with the completely wrong P/N even though the seat was properly configured for that location. After we removed the seat assembly in Row-12 we found extensive damage to the seat tracks in the floor. It appears that some sort of sharp object had been used to remove the seat at some previous time and serious nicks and gouges were seen on the surface of the seat track. The difficulty removing the seat may have been caused by the different cross section of the seat track two inches forward of seat Row-12 DEF; aft leg position. I believe that the procedure for changing the P/N of a seat should include some sort of way of showing on the Original Data Plate that the P/N has been changed and that the Previous P/N Placards should be removed or shown to be no longer effective to that seat assembly. The fact that the seat assembly is allowed to have more than one Data/ P/N Placard should be avoided to prevent confusion. We also found many Placards on that aircraft that were worn to the point where we were unable to ascertain what the proper P/N was. Also seat Row-15 DEF was completely the wrong P/N; but it was evident that someone had 'changed' the P/N on the newest Placard with some sort of marker.

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.