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A B737-700 had an authorized engineering change repair to a cracked thrust lever that allowed protruding rivets that impeded clear access to the toga button which may be needed during a critical moment of a missed approach.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 929313 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201101 |
| Local Time Of Day | 0001-0600 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ZZZ.Airport |
| State Reference | US |
| Environment | |
| Light | Daylight |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | B737-700 |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | Initial Approach |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Component | |
| Aircraft Component | Throttle/Power Level |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Captain Pilot Flying |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical |
Narrative:
Right thrust lever had a 'engineering authorized repair' to a crack in the thrust lever that interfered with pilot's clear and easy access to the toga button on that thrust lever. The hi-loks mounting the repair plate extended out over the toga button. The repair should; in my opinion; be done with flush rivets to allow unrestricted access to the toga button. If the engineering authorization is to be the standard then the toga button for that throttle should be placed on MEL. At a DH (decision height) of 50 ft safety is compromised if the pilot can't find the toga button in a standardized manner. The aircraft was accepted by the captain after talking to maintenance control and shown the engineering authorization stating that it was within 'compliance'. Several maintenance techs that I talked with regarding this issue all agreed that the repair should be done with flush rivets or MEL the toga button. The reason given that it was not done with flush rivets was 'time'. I submit that 'safety' should take precedence over 'time'.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: A B737-700 had an authorized engineering change repair to a cracked thrust lever that allowed protruding rivets that impeded clear access to the TOGA button which may be needed during a critical moment of a missed approach.
Narrative: Right thrust lever had a 'Engineering Authorized Repair' to a crack in the thrust lever that interfered with pilot's clear and easy access to the TOGA button on that thrust lever. The Hi-Loks mounting the repair plate extended out over the TOGA button. The repair should; in my opinion; be done with flush rivets to allow unrestricted access to the TOGA button. If the engineering authorization is to be the standard then the TOGA button for that throttle should be placed on MEL. At a DH (Decision Height) of 50 FT safety is compromised if the pilot can't find the TOGA button in a standardized manner. The aircraft was accepted by the Captain after talking to Maintenance Control and shown the Engineering Authorization stating that it was within 'Compliance'. Several maintenance techs that I talked with regarding this issue all agreed that the repair should be done with flush rivets or MEL the TOGA button. The reason given that it was not done with flush rivets was 'Time'. I submit that 'Safety' should take precedence over 'Time'.
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.