An aircraft maintenance technician reports he inadvertently left a butane soldering iron above the a...

Narrative:

A butane soldering iron was inadvertently left onboard a B737-700 aircraft following maintenance (cabin mod) in ZZZ. The tool was left above the aft cabin ceiling immediately forward of the access panel for the fdr. Distractions from other maintenance being performed in the aft cabin and galley area most likely caused me to eventually close the access panel before a final inspection of the area. The tool was discovered missing the following night. The aircraft terminated in ZZZ1 that night. Maintenance control was contacted; who then directed contract maintenance at that station to remove the tool from the aircraft. The tool was found and removed. [Suggest] inventory of tools following maintenance and inspection of all opened areas; access panels; etc. Prior to close.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An Aircraft Maintenance Technician reports he inadvertently left a butane soldering iron above the aft cabin ceiling on a B737-700 aircraft during a cabin modification.

Narrative: A butane soldering iron was inadvertently left onboard a B737-700 aircraft following maintenance (Cabin Mod) in ZZZ. The tool was left above the aft cabin ceiling immediately forward of the access panel for the FDR. Distractions from other maintenance being performed in the aft cabin and galley area most likely caused me to eventually close the access panel before a Final Inspection of the area. The tool was discovered missing the following night. The aircraft terminated in ZZZ1 that night. Maintenance Control was contacted; who then directed Contract Maintenance at that station to remove the tool from the aircraft. The tool was found and removed. [Suggest] inventory of tools following maintenance and inspection of all opened areas; access panels; etc. prior to close.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 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	1031075
Time
Date	201208
Local Time Of Day	1801-2400
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B737-700
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Parked
Component
Aircraft Component	Galley Furnishing
Person 1
Function	Technician
Qualification	Maintenance Powerplant Maintenance Airframe
Events
Anomaly	Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy

An aircraft maintenance technician reports he inadvertently left a butane soldering iron above the aft cabin ceiling on a B737-700 aircraft during a cabin modification.