A mechanic reports that during routine maintenance to change seven of the eight flap transmissions o...

Narrative:

During routine maintenance to change 7 of the 8 flap transmissions; someone brought on hydraulics and moved the flaps up before all of the torque tubes were attached; which resulted in damage to the left outboard mid flap. This happened while I was away from the aircraft. This report was filed at the request of management because recently there have been events similar in kind resulting in aircraft damage. They wanted to bring attention to it and create a process with the help of the reporting program and the other stations. The aircraft was repaired (mid flap replaced); before being released for service. This damage could have been prevented if the flaps had been cleared prior to activation. There is currently a new task card being created to address the problem. This new task card will include a step to clear the flaps prior to activation.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A Mechanic reports that during routine maintenance to change seven of the eight flap transmissions on a B737-300; someone brought on hydraulics and moved the flaps to 'up'; before all of the torque tubes were attached; resulting in damage to the left outboard mid flap.

Narrative: During routine maintenance to change 7 of the 8 flap transmissions; someone brought on hydraulics and moved the flaps up before all of the torque tubes were attached; which resulted in damage to the left outboard mid flap. This happened while I was away from the aircraft. This report was filed at the request of management because recently there have been events similar in kind resulting in aircraft damage. They wanted to bring attention to it and create a process with the help of the reporting program and the other stations. The aircraft was repaired (mid flap replaced); before being released for service. This damage could have been prevented if the flaps had been cleared prior to activation. There is currently a new task card being created to address the problem. This new task card will include a step to clear the flaps prior to activation.

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.

Attributes
ACN	834344
Time
Date	200903
Local Time Of Day	0001-0600
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B737-300
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Parked
Component
Aircraft Component	Trailing Edge Flap
Person 1
Function	Technician
Qualification	Maintenance Airframe Maintenance Powerplant
Experience	Maintenance Technician 24
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical Deviation - Procedural Maintenance Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy

A mechanic reports that during routine maintenance to change seven of the eight flap transmissions on a B737-300; someone brought on hydraulics and moved the flaps to 'up'; before all of the torque tubes were attached; resulting in damage to the left outboard mid flap.