An FAA inspector discovered that an A320's right overwing emergency escape slide ball locks were pai...

Narrative:

Upon initial entry onto aircraft captain and first officer greeted by FAA safety inspector who informed us that upon his inspection he found that the escape slide ball locks for the right overwing emergency slide were painted over and this was in non compliance of an engineering order. Maintenance was notified to correct the discrepancy and if I would enter it into the logbook. I did and maintenance cleaned the paint; signed off the logbook and we departed. The inspector also commented that painting over the pins could cause the emergency over wing slide to not deploy properly. It is unknown how the pins were painted over. I would suggest more comprehensive monitoring by our maintenance department.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An FAA Inspector discovered that an A320's right overwing emergency escape slide ball locks were painted over and would not operate if needed. Maintenance cleaned the paint.

Narrative: Upon initial entry onto aircraft Captain and First Officer greeted by FAA Safety Inspector who informed us that upon his inspection he found that the escape slide ball locks for the right overwing emergency slide were painted over and this was in non compliance of an Engineering Order. Maintenance was notified to correct the discrepancy and if I would enter it into the logbook. I did and maintenance cleaned the paint; signed off the logbook and we departed. The Inspector also commented that painting over the pins could cause the emergency over wing slide to not deploy properly. It is unknown how the pins were painted over. I would suggest more comprehensive monitoring by our Maintenance Department.

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.

Attributes
ACN	961896
Time
Date	201107
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	A320
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Parked
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Escape Slide
Person 1
Function	Pilot Flying Captain
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy

An FAA inspector discovered that an A320's right overwing emergency escape slide ball locks were painted over and would not operate if needed. Maintenance cleaned the paint.