Narrative:

I had left a pair of flush cut dikes [wire cutters] out of my tool box when leaving work for the weekend. Upon returning to work on monday; I had discovered that they were missing from my tool box when I was organizing my tools. I immediately notified my lead; mr. X; that I was missing a tool. He in return told me 'don't worry about it. I saw them sitting on a table near the parts shelf.' I then proceeded to look for my missing tool where mr. X had said he saw them last; but they were not there. I then started asking the other mechanics that I was working with if they had seen my missing tool. All of them had said no. I then brought it back up to my lead mr. X a couple of times over the next few days. Every time I was told not to worry about it because he had seen them sitting on a table. I took no further action with regards to reporting this to anyone else. Several working days later before the aircraft was ready for return to service; I started talking to my lead mr. X again about my concern for my missing tool. Once again I was told not to worry about it because he had searched the entire aircraft and didn't find anything. Still being concerned I brought it up to my inspector; mr. Y. He then in turn had me talk with my department supervisor mr. Z. I explained my story to mr. Z; who felt that this was a serious matter and needed to be addressed. Suggest having tool control in place. Outline better communication between lead and mechanic. Stress the importance of safety and reporting issues.

Related reports:

Google
 

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Returning from a weekend off; a Mechanic realizes he had left a pair of wire cutters out of his toolbox two days earlier. A few days later and after several attempts to find the cutters with no help from his Lead; he approached an Inspector who helped coordinate having the plane searched.

Narrative: I had left a pair of flush cut dikes [wire cutters] out of my tool box when leaving work for the weekend. Upon returning to work on Monday; I had discovered that they were missing from my tool box when I was organizing my tools. I immediately notified my Lead; Mr. X; that I was missing a tool. He in return told me 'don't worry about it. I saw them sitting on a table near the parts shelf.' I then proceeded to look for my missing tool where Mr. X had said he saw them last; but they were not there. I then started asking the other mechanics that I was working with if they had seen my missing tool. All of them had said no. I then brought it back up to my Lead Mr. X a couple of times over the next few days. Every time I was told not to worry about it because he had seen them sitting on a table. I took no further action with regards to reporting this to anyone else. Several working days later before the aircraft was ready for Return to Service; I started talking to my Lead Mr. X again about my concern for my missing tool. Once again I was told not to worry about it because he had searched the entire aircraft and didn't find anything. Still being concerned I brought it up to my inspector; Mr. Y. He then in turn had me talk with my department supervisor Mr. Z. I explained my story to Mr. Z; who felt that this was a serious matter and needed to be addressed. Suggest having tool control in place. Outline better communication between Lead and Mechanic. Stress the importance of safety and reporting issues.

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.