Narrative:

Upon arrival at XA15; found a message on lead's desk. Dayshift lead stated that aircraft would arrive in need of MEL upon arrival per maintenance controller. Aircraft was to arrive at XA28. Meanwhile; I was receiving turnover information on aircraft Y which had a left engine hptcc replacement in progress of which required my attention. I then received a phone call from maintenance controller explaining that aircraft X would need an MEL placed on it upon its arrival. I stated to maintenance controller that I would call him to apply the MEL when I got the chance to meet the aircraft. I then went out on the ramp to review the status of aircraft Y. When I was briefed of the status of the valve change; I then proceeded to aircraft X to find the aircraft being loaded with passengers. At this time I worked my way to the flight deck and spoke with the captain. I informed him that we would apply the MEL since this was a previous problem he had on this aircraft. At this point I grabbed the logbook and worked my way back out to the jetway phone and commenced communications with maintenance control. Maintenance controller and I began the process of meling the aircraft. I was relying on his input as I did not have the MEL book in front of me. He guided me through the installation of the MEL #26-12-01b; and the verbiage to be written underneath of the MEL. I asked if there were any special procedures required by maintenance and there were none. Never in our conversation did we exchange whether it was a follow-up or not. So I assumed it was a different placard not requiring a follow-up. Please note that I was made aware of the MEL infraction later in 2008 by the manager. Replaced placard from the other to orange. The event occurred due to time constraints and the inability to review and verify the proper application of the MEL. My reliance on the information led to the application of the wrong placard. In the future; the MEL book will also be removed from the cockpit and reviewed prior to acceptance and application of MEL. Callback conversation with reporter revealed the following information: reporter stated the orange placard would alert the flight and maintenance crews of an MEL deferral and the requirement for an additional procedure to be followed. The additional procedure would require some kind of action to be accomplished by operations (flight crew); maintenance or both. In his case; one of the fire loops on #2 engine was deferred but required the pilot to perform a fire loop test on the A319 prior to each flight. With the incorrect colored placard installed; the preflight fire loop test may not have been performed on following flights. The orange placard was later installed.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A Lead Mechanic is informed by his manager he should have installed an orange type placard on an A319 for the MEL of a #2 engine fire warning loop; requiring pilot to verify loop integrity prior to each flight.

Narrative: Upon arrival at XA15; found a message on Lead's desk. Dayshift Lead stated that aircraft would arrive in need of MEL upon arrival per Maintenance Controller. Aircraft was to arrive at XA28. Meanwhile; I was receiving turnover information on Aircraft Y which had a left engine HPTCC replacement in progress of which required my attention. I then received a phone call from Maintenance Controller explaining that Aircraft X would need an MEL placed on it upon its arrival. I stated to Maintenance Controller that I would call him to apply the MEL when I got the chance to meet the aircraft. I then went out on the ramp to review the status of Aircraft Y. When I was briefed of the status of the valve change; I then proceeded to Aircraft X to find the Aircraft being loaded with passengers. At this time I worked my way to the flight deck and spoke with the Captain. I informed him that we would apply the MEL since this was a previous problem he had on this aircraft. At this point I grabbed the logbook and worked my way back out to the jetway phone and commenced communications with Maintenance Control. Maintenance Controller and I began the process of MELing the aircraft. I was relying on his input as I did not have the MEL book in front of me. He guided me through the installation of the MEL #26-12-01b; and the verbiage to be written underneath of the MEL. I asked if there were any special procedures required by Maintenance and there were none. Never in our conversation did we exchange whether it was a follow-up or not. So I assumed it was a different placard not requiring a follow-up. Please note that I was made aware of the MEL infraction later in 2008 by the Manager. Replaced placard from the other to orange. The event occurred due to time constraints and the inability to review and verify the proper application of the MEL. My reliance on the information led to the application of the wrong placard. In the future; the MEL book will also be removed from the cockpit and reviewed prior to acceptance and application of MEL. Callback conversation with Reporter revealed the following information: Reporter stated the orange placard would alert the flight and maintenance crews of an MEL deferral and the requirement for an additional procedure to be followed. The additional procedure would require some kind of action to be accomplished by Operations (flight crew); maintenance or both. In his case; one of the fire loops on #2 engine was deferred but required the pilot to perform a fire loop test on the A319 prior to each flight. With the incorrect colored placard installed; the preflight fire loop test may not have been performed on following flights. The orange placard was later installed.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of May 2009 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.