Narrative:

[On this week]; I was in ZZZ. I was the only mechanic for company X in the area. Mr. Y was the other mechanic; but had given his two weeks notice and the company knew that his last day would be three days earlier. I began work [on my first day] knowing I was going to be the only mechanic on duty to run the day and night shift. Two days later; aircraft X; had broken down with a navigation light issue and maintenance control and I decided to ground the airplane and I would work on it that night. We then sent aircraft Y to ZZZ1 for the run. I worked aircraft X that night; installing a navigation light switch; which fixed only one of the write-ups. I then continued to work on the other write-up on aircraft X. Next morning; maintenance control decided to make aircraft Y a stand-by plane and was sent to ZZZ2. On its return; aircraft Y also had been written-up.I was told by maintenance control to get aircraft X deferred; so it could make the run to ZZZ1 that night. I proceeded to defer the other write up on aircraft X. I received a phone call from maintenance control stating that the ZZZ1 run had been canceled due to weather. When the stand-by flight crew arrived at the station and maintenance control told them they did not have an airplane for them on this morning. After being aware of aircraft X not being used; I began work on aircraft X again. We had a winter storm come through [on the fourth] night/next morning. I finally finished launching aircraft Z to ZZZ3 and aircraft a to ZZZ4. I had decided after launching the planes that I was going to go home since I had not been home in three days; and had only gotten a few hours of sleep here and there; not a consistent sleep because company maintenance control continued to call at every hour. I did not put the airplanes back together before going home because I was not aware of this flight when leaving for home. I was very fatigued and did not feel safe to work on an airplane in this condition. What happened last week could have been avoided with just another mechanic being sent here. I was pushed beyond my limit and could not go anymore. What the people at maintenance control were pressuring me to do was pushing the limits of safety. I could not think straight and was barely keeping my eyes open. Also; to go work on the planes I was going to have to use a belt loader; which I do use on a daily basis; but the winds were gusting at 30-mph and I did not feel comfortable gaining access to the planes. I feel no one in maintenance control could care less about the person on the line doing the work in the weather; they just want to be able to say that a plane is up. They also need to let the mechanic do his job and not tell us what is broke on the plane. I think it is very hard to fix an airplane by just talking to a captain and saying 'you need to change this.' aircraft X had an air turnback on my first day; with the altimeter and IAS flagged.maintenance control called me and recommended that I check and make sure that the pitot covers were not still on the pitot tubes. I was more offended than anything after being told this. What fixed the plane was a new air data computer (air data computer) from my stock. This is something that has happened more and more with the new people coming into maintenance control. I did tell the maintenance controllers that I was tired and needed sleep. They just kept insisting that I get out there and fix those planes. I was also asked while the storm was going on; what the status of aircraft Y was and why I was not working on it. The pressure on the mechanics from these guys is bad and can become frustrating and irritating. This results in mechanics having to fight back and cause arguments between maintenance control and mechanics.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A Line Mechanic reported he was the only Mechanic available; working five days of extended hours with little rest and constant interruptions from Maintenance Control. A First Officer adds his report about the same Line Mechanic's fatigue; confusion and the lack of adequate rest requirement rules for mechanics.

Narrative: [On this week]; I was in ZZZ. I was the only Mechanic for Company X in the area. Mr. Y was the other Mechanic; but had given his two weeks notice and the company knew that his last day would be three days earlier. I began work [on my first day] knowing I was going to be the only Mechanic on duty to run the day and night shift. Two days later; Aircraft X; had broken down with a navigation light issue and Maintenance Control and I decided to ground the airplane and I would work on it that night. We then sent Aircraft Y to ZZZ1 for the run. I worked Aircraft X that night; installing a navigation light switch; which fixed only one of the write-ups. I then continued to work on the other write-up on Aircraft X. Next morning; Maintenance Control decided to make Aircraft Y a stand-by plane and was sent to ZZZ2. On its return; Aircraft Y also had been written-up.I was told by Maintenance Control to get Aircraft X deferred; so it could make the run to ZZZ1 that night. I proceeded to defer the other write up on Aircraft X. I received a phone call from Maintenance Control stating that the ZZZ1 run had been canceled due to weather. When the stand-by flight crew arrived at the station and Maintenance Control told them they did not have an airplane for them on this morning. After being aware of Aircraft X not being used; I began work on Aircraft X again. We had a winter storm come through [on the fourth] night/next morning. I finally finished launching Aircraft Z to ZZZ3 and Aircraft A to ZZZ4. I had decided after launching the planes that I was going to go home since I had not been home in three days; and had only gotten a few hours of sleep here and there; not a consistent sleep because company Maintenance Control continued to call at every hour. I did not put the airplanes back together before going home because I was not aware of this flight when leaving for home. I was very fatigued and did not feel safe to work on an airplane in this condition. What happened last week could have been avoided with just another Mechanic being sent here. I was pushed beyond my limit and could not go anymore. What the people at Maintenance Control were pressuring me to do was pushing the limits of safety. I could not think straight and was barely keeping my eyes open. Also; to go work on the planes I was going to have to use a Belt Loader; which I do use on a daily basis; but the winds were gusting at 30-mph and I did not feel comfortable gaining access to the planes. I feel no one in Maintenance Control could care less about the person on the line doing the work in the weather; they just want to be able to say that a plane is up. They also need to let the Mechanic do his job and not tell us what is broke on the plane. I think it is very hard to fix an airplane by just talking to a Captain and saying 'You need to change this.' Aircraft X had an air turnback on my first day; with the altimeter and IAS flagged.Maintenance Control called me and recommended that I check and make sure that the pitot covers were not still on the pitot tubes. I was more offended than anything after being told this. What fixed the plane was a new Air Data Computer (ADC) from my stock. This is something that has happened more and more with the new people coming into Maintenance Control. I did tell the maintenance controllers that I was tired and needed sleep. They just kept insisting that I get out there and fix those planes. I was also asked while the storm was going on; what the status of Aircraft Y was and why I was not working on it. The pressure on the mechanics from these guys is bad and can become frustrating and irritating. This results in mechanics having to fight back and cause arguments between Maintenance Control and mechanics.

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.