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Air carrier captain reported that a maintenance technician and an FAA inspector were not in agreement if a brake was within wear limits.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1569252 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201808 |
| Local Time Of Day | 1801-2400 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ZZZ.Airport |
| State Reference | US |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | Medium Transport |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | Parked |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Component | |
| Aircraft Component | Normal Brake System |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Captain |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Multiengine |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy |
Narrative:
As we were boarding; a FAA ramp inspector told me he thought the brake wear pin indicators were indicating low on the left inboard side. I called [company maintenance] and they ran the brake wear indicator test. The rear pin emerged when pressure was applied to the system but the front pin remained slightly recessed. The FAA ramp inspector and the lead mechanic were in disagreement over if both pins had to emerge under pressure or just one. I told them to try to figure it out as passengers had now been on board for over an hour. After more discussion with the FAA inspector the lead mechanic returned saying one pin emerging was airworthy and returned our logbook. We pilots are specifically told not to look at the gear pins so I took my lead mechanic's word and we attempted to leave. After a subsequent ATC flow delay it was 2 hours and 5 minutes with passengers on board from boarding start to takeoff. Apparently some verbiage in the maintenance manuals needs to be clarified.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: Air carrier Captain reported that a Maintenance Technician and an FAA inspector were not in agreement if a brake was within wear limits.
Narrative: As we were boarding; a FAA ramp inspector told me he thought the brake wear pin indicators were indicating low on the left inboard side. I called [Company Maintenance] and they ran the brake wear indicator test. The rear pin emerged when pressure was applied to the system but the front pin remained slightly recessed. The FAA ramp inspector and the lead mechanic were in disagreement over if both pins had to emerge under pressure or just one. I told them to try to figure it out as passengers had now been on board for over an hour. After more discussion with the FAA inspector the lead mechanic returned saying one pin emerging was airworthy and returned our logbook. We pilots are specifically told not to look at the gear pins so I took my lead mechanic's word and we attempted to leave. After a subsequent ATC flow delay it was 2 hours and 5 minutes with passengers on board from boarding start to takeoff. Apparently some verbiage in the maintenance manuals needs to be clarified.
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.