Commercial Fixed Wing
Maintenance Airframe; Maintenance Powerplant
Maintenance Technician 26
Communication Breakdown; Confusion; Human-Machine Interface; Situational Awareness
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
General Maintenance Action
Equipment / Tooling; Company Policy; Human Factors
This is an ongoing problem to a program/tool that [our company]; Air Carrier X; has tried to use and is at best intermittent and is frustrating. At Stations with no Maintenance; these tablets are the only means of Aircraft Manual data on a field trip. Wiring diagrams are so hard to use. I see a huge 'Human Factors' issue while using device myself; as well as others who just give up on its use. It is my understanding that 'if' [our] Air Carrier X would turn on the tablet's WiFi feature; it would connect better. As I am told by the people in the program; they are 'Worried' about doing this; as it would open up the Internet for usage. (Not sure if it's for airline security or about persons being allowed to access the web.) This still won't address the wire diagram issue; maybe printers at all stations with the ability to print from the hand held tablets would help.
Reporter stated he is a Technical Support Line Lead. The Maintenance tablets are different from what the flight crews use. Mechanics could only use a phone signal provider until recently; when Wi-Fi access was also made available at certain locations. But Wi-Fi; or the phone connection; can be lost when entering the aircraft or in the passenger Jetway. When that happens; the Mechanic has to log back onto the tablet and go through the process of re-accessing the Aircraft Maintenance Manual (AMM); or MEL; or aircraft history. Mechanics get frustrated and eventually just refuse to use the tablets. Also; wireless printers are not available to mechanics at outlying stations. All they have is the tablets. Reporter also stated the programs in the tablets used by pilots will flag the need to download current revisions/updates whenever the tablet is logged on to; thereby allowing a pilot to have the most current manual information. Not so with the tablets distributed to the Maintenance group. He doesn't feel the product (tablet) developers' have worked out the unique problems associated with the Maintenance environment. The current Maintenance tablets are not ready for prime time.
A Technical Support Lead Mechanic reports about an ongoing problem with electronic tablets that are suppose to help Maintenance personnel access MEL's; Aircraft History and Aircraft Maintenance Manuals (AMM). Lack of WiFi features and inability to print Wiring Diagrams for troubleshooting purposes were also noted.