37000 Feet

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While deadheading in the cabin and sitting in the last row of an emb-145 aircraft; a captain notices a section of the left wing trailing edge skin cavitating; collapsing at cruise altitude. Skin distortion appeared to go back to normal below 10;000 feet and remained smooth with flaps extended for landing.

Narrative:

I was deadheading in the cabin and seated in the last aft row. At cruise altitude; likely at a flight level; I looked out the window and saw what appeared to be aircraft wing skin cavitation; on the left wing; on the outboard flap upper surface area near the flap out most hinge area. The right wing area looked similar to the left wing but was less severe. This distortion of skin appeared to go back to normal below 10;000'. I informed the pilot in command verbally via interphone and directly upon landing. I informed my supervisors via phone call and followed up with a report.possible fleet wide issue with emb-145 skin separating in the wings or possible fatigue. Passengers and cabin crew may not have been able to notice this discrepancy. Therefore; it is possible this emb aircraft and others have not been noticed before. I have only seen this once before on an emb-135 aircraft in december 2012; and brought it up then to the company's attention in a report. An airworthiness directive (a/D) to inspect the emb skin; at high altitudes; should be required. Otherwise; the PIC will never know that the aircraft is experiencing this skin condition. Deadheading pilot. Possible fleet-wide issue with emb skin separating. Skin separating/damage.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: While deadheading in the cabin and sitting in the last row of an EMB-145 aircraft; a Captain notices a section of the left wing trailing edge skin cavitating; collapsing at cruise altitude. Skin distortion appeared to go back to normal below 10;000 feet and remained smooth with flaps extended for landing.

Narrative: I was deadheading in the cabin and seated in the last aft row. At cruise altitude; likely at a flight level; I looked out the window and saw what appeared to be aircraft wing skin cavitation; on the left wing; on the outboard flap upper surface area near the flap out most hinge area. The right wing area looked similar to the left wing but was less severe. This distortion of skin appeared to go back to normal below 10;000'. I informed the Pilot In Command verbally via interphone and directly upon landing. I informed my supervisors via phone call and followed up with a report.Possible fleet wide issue with EMB-145 skin separating in the wings or possible fatigue. Passengers and cabin crew may not have been able to notice this discrepancy. Therefore; it is possible this EMB aircraft and others have not been noticed before. I have only seen this once before on an EMB-135 aircraft in December 2012; and brought it up then to the company's attention in a report. An Airworthiness Directive (A/D) to inspect the EMB skin; at high altitudes; should be required. Otherwise; the PIC will never know that the aircraft is experiencing this skin condition. Deadheading Pilot. Possible fleet-wide issue with EMB skin separating. Skin separating/damage.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site 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.