A captain reports finding a fastener on the belly of a company airbus aircraft with tape over the sc...

Attributes
ACN	958559
Time
Date	201107
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Airbus 318/319/320/321 Undifferentiated
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Parked
Component
Aircraft Component	Fuselage Panel
Person 1
Function	Pilot Flying Captain
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe Deviation - Procedural FAR Deviation - Procedural Maintenance Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy

Narrative:

On pre-flight inspection; I found a fastener on the belly of the aircraft with tape over it. On further inspection by maintenance; it was discovered that there was no backing nut for the fastener and someone had simply placed a fastener [screw] in the hole and placed tape over the hole to make it appear as though there was a fastener in place holding the panel in place. This is the second time I have found this in company airbus aircraft; improper maintenance in an attempt to circumvent repairs. Suggest better maintenance inspections and proper repairs.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A Captain reports finding a fastener on the belly of a company Airbus aircraft with tape over the screw. No backing nut was installed. Pilot noted he had previously found a similar condition on another company Airbus.

Narrative: On pre-flight inspection; I found a fastener on the belly of the aircraft with tape over it. On further inspection by Maintenance; it was discovered that there was no backing nut for the fastener and someone had simply placed a fastener [screw] in the hole and placed tape over the hole to make it appear as though there was a fastener in place holding the panel in place. This is the second time I have found this in company Airbus aircraft; improper maintenance in an attempt to circumvent repairs. Suggest better Maintenance Inspections and proper repairs.

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.

A captain reports finding a fastener on the belly of a company airbus aircraft with tape over the screw. No backing nut was installed. Pilot noted he had previously found a similar condition on another company airbus.