A320 flight crew discovered maintenance failed to replace both nose tires as required by maintenance...

Narrative:

While performing the initial power up we had a TR2 failure indicated; and the captain called maintenance control for troubleshooting. He then was told there was a contract mechanic already there for a nose tire inflation issue. The controller indicated that the tire would be serviced and to start boarding. 10 minutes later we were informed; after starting to board; that the tire pressure was 130 psi and the tire would need to be changed. A new tire was coming from another carrier. The captain decided to deplane the aircraft. The new tire wasn't suitable so a tire had to be flown in.afterward; we discovered the following: 1) if the tire pressure was less than 145 psi both tires needed to be replaced; not just one. Checking our log; the aircraft had flown three legs before the second nose tire was changed. 2) the maintenance controller told the captain he had 150 aircraft to monitor and was too busy at that moment. Is he the only controller on duty in the early morning? As a crew it was disturbing that maintenance did not write up the original discrepancy of 130 psi so that was on our paperwork. It should have been obvious at that moment that 130 psi on a nose tire required replacement of both nose tires; yet only one tire was flown in and replaced. The chart states; 'replace tire and mate' if pressure is 144-0. It was apparent to the captain that the controller was overworked. If the simple maintenance issues like this are being screwed up; how much reliance should we as a crew have that maintenance is dealing with more complex issues in a more reliable manner?

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A320 flight crew discovered maintenance failed to replace both nose tires as required by maintenance manual when either tire pressure reads below 145 PSI.

Narrative: While performing the initial power up we had a TR2 failure indicated; and the captain called Maintenance Control for troubleshooting. He then was told there was a contract mechanic already there for a nose tire inflation issue. The Controller indicated that the tire would be serviced and to start boarding. 10 minutes later we were informed; after starting to board; that the tire pressure was 130 PSI and the tire would need to be changed. A new tire was coming from another carrier. The Captain decided to deplane the aircraft. The new tire wasn't suitable so a tire had to be flown in.Afterward; we discovered the following: 1) If the tire pressure was less than 145 PSI both tires needed to be replaced; not just one. Checking our log; the aircraft had flown three legs before the second nose tire was changed. 2) The Maintenance Controller told the Captain he had 150 aircraft to monitor and was too busy at that moment. Is he the only Controller on duty in the early morning? As a crew it was disturbing that maintenance did not write up the original discrepancy of 130 PSI so that was on our paperwork. It should have been obvious at that moment that 130 PSI on a nose tire required replacement of both nose tires; yet only one tire was flown in and replaced. The chart states; 'replace tire and mate' if pressure is 144-0. It was apparent to the Captain that the Controller was overworked. If the simple maintenance issues like this are being screwed up; how much reliance should we as a crew have that maintenance is dealing with more complex issues in a more reliable manner?

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	843432
Time
Date	200907
Local Time Of Day	0001-0600
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	A320
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Parked
Component
Aircraft Component	Nose Gear Tire
Person 1
Function	First Officer Pilot Flying
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 45 Flight Crew Total 6000 Flight Crew Type 1500
Person 2
Function	Pilot Not Flying Captain
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 240 Flight Crew Total 27000 Flight Crew Type 500
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical Deviation - Procedural Maintenance Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy

A320 flight crew discovered maintenance failed to replace both nose tires as required by maintenance manual when either tire pressure reads below 145 psi.