B777 Undifferentiated or Other Model
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 180; Flight Crew Total 14000; Flight Crew Type 3500
Communication Breakdown; Confusion
Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Maintenance; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
General Maintenance Action
Aircraft; Human Factors
I was the flying First Officer (FO); performing my preflight flow check.  Upon completion of the normal fire test; I noticed something peculiar about the Engine Fire Panel in the center pedestal.  It appeared upside down.  I brought it to the attention of the Captain and other FOs.  I made a Logbook entry and notified maintenance.  Per our dispatcher; the aircraft had not been operating for approximately six days (I assume it was in maintenance; in the hangar).  Maintenance came to the airplane very puzzled; of course.  Eventually they flipped the fire panel around and re-secured it.  I inquired as to the possibility of the actual indicators being cross wired and I was assured that the cannon plugs were unique between Left and Right and that couldn't happen.  Maintenance was also puzzled because they informed me that the length of the wires behind the panel should not allow for this reversal to have occurred.  I am concerned as to what maintenance procedure allowed for such a serious error to occur and also of the possibility that this aircraft has been operating revenue flights in this configuration for a while.  The remainder of the flight was uneventful.
Reporter stated the Engine Fire Panel (P-8) on the center pedestal was installed upside-down; or reversed; from the normal position after completing the Fire Panel Test. The Engine Fire Override Switch was on the aft side of the Engine Fire Handle instead of on the forward side of the handle. That is when they noticed the Right Engine Fire Handle was positioned where the Left Engine Fire Handle should have been.Reporter stated when pilots perform the Fire Panel Test; the entire panel lights everything up; not just an individual fire handle. With the P-8 Engine Fire Panel installed in reversed; he was not sure if the individual cannon plugs could have been reversed; or cross-connected; creating a real dilemma in flight if they had unknowingly departed with the Engine Fire Panel installed backwards and a fire warning lit up one of the Fire handles. Reporter suggested a fleet campaign be initiated to check their other B777s for the same condition. Reporter has not received any response from his air carrier.
Upon First Officer (FO) preflight check; the flying FO found the fire suppression panel to have been installed incorrectly and upside down with the verbiage on opposite sides from the engine they represent.
A First Officer reports he noticed the Engine Fire Panel (P-8) had been installed upside-down in the center pedestal of a B777. The Right Engine Fire Handle was positioned where the Left Engine Fire Handle should have been. Concerns were raised about the possibility of the fire handle cannon plugs being cross-connected and just how long the aircraft had been operating in that condition. Two other FOs also add their perspectives.