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A MD80 captain reported that on the same trip two aircraft had mechanical problems which maintenance had signed off but which were not actually repaired. The first was cabin fumes which forced a return to land followed by a flight in which the spoiler fault light illuminated after it had been signed off four previous times.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 936020 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201103 |
| Local Time Of Day | 0601-1200 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ZZZ.Airport |
| State Reference | US |
| Environment | |
| Light | Daylight |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | MD-80 Series (DC-9-80) Undifferentiated or Other Model |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 91 |
| Flight Phase | Initial Climb |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Component | |
| Aircraft Component | Spoiler System |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Captain Pilot Not Flying |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Smoke / Fire / Fumes / Odor |
Narrative:
We took off and had to declare an emergency (due to an overweight landing) to return to land with strong odors in the cabin. The previous flight had the very same issue; strong odors. The problem had not been fixed. Signed off? Yes. Fixed? No. We were given another aircraft to fly to a moderately high altitude airport; high ground speed at touchdown etc. The aircraft had a cdl item with a landing weight penalty. It had had four write-ups as well regarding the spoilers. On our return leg we got the spoiler light again and I wrote it up for the fifth time in recent history. Had we gotten the repeat spoiler light prior to landing in high altitude airport or on the ground prior to takeoff; we likely would have been forced to consider other options. Again...signed off. Yup; four times. Fixed? Nope. My point? Our air carrier maintenance policy is failing.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: A MD80 Captain reported that on the same trip two aircraft had mechanical problems which Maintenance had signed off but which were not actually repaired. The first was cabin fumes which forced a return to land followed by a flight in which the spoiler fault light illuminated after it had been signed off four previous times.
Narrative: We took off and had to declare an emergency (due to an overweight landing) to return to land with strong odors in the cabin. The previous flight had the very same issue; strong odors. The problem had not been fixed. Signed off? Yes. Fixed? No. We were given another aircraft to fly to a moderately high altitude airport; high ground speed at touchdown etc. The aircraft had a CDL item with a landing weight penalty. It had had four write-ups as well regarding the spoilers. On our return leg we got the spoiler light again and I wrote it up for the fifth time in recent history. Had we gotten the repeat spoiler light prior to landing in high altitude airport or on the ground prior to takeoff; we likely would have been forced to consider other options. Again...signed off. Yup; four times. Fixed? Nope. My point? Our air carrier maintenance policy is failing.
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.