B737 Undifferentiated or Other Model
Communication Breakdown
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
Procedure; Manuals; Human Factors; Company Policy
Per current [maintenance procedure]; if a tool cannot be located after an aircraft departs; Maintenance Control will be notified. This procedure could possibly allow the aircraft to depart with tooling left onboard as the inspection is done at a down line station leaving a possibility of a potential incident.  We currently have [a large number of] aircraft flying around the system with tools checked out against them.  There are no controls in place to monitor tooling checked out against an aircraft or prevent departure of an aircraft with potential tooling left onboard.Tool check out to release of the aircraft with the ability for override once the aircraft is inspected we would check the aircraft before it departed not after.  Another suggestion is to put a block on the work cards to check for the tooling checked out before releasing the aircraft.
Air Carrier maintenance person reported Company advised maintenance procedure does not require misplaced tool to be located prior to aircraft departure.