EMB ERJ 145 ER/LR
Maintenance Powerplant; Maintenance Airframe
Situational Awareness; Other / Unknown
Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Maintenance
General Maintenance Action
Human Factors; Incorrect / Not Installed / Unavailable Part; Aircraft
In ZZZ at company hangar facility in January 2012; the Overwing Emergency Exits on an EMB-145 aircraft were installed on opposite sides. I; Maintenance Supervisor; cross-referenced effectivities to verify that the part numbers [Overwing Exit hatches] were applicable to both aircraft.
Reporter stated the Overwing Emergency Exit hatches are interchangeable with the left and right hatch positions in EMB-145 aircraft. The same Exits are also interchangeable with other EMB-145s provided the Part Numbers (P/N) on the exit hatches are effective for the aircraft that will be using them.Reporter stated the only difference in determining that; the correct Exit hatch has been installed at the left or right cabin positions; are the left or right placards installed on the liner of each Exit hatch. The placards instruct the person who removes the hatch what to do with the hatch in an emergency situation. Exit hatches weigh twenty-five pounds.Reporter stated the Exit hatches in his incident were robbed (cannibalized) from another EMB-145 that was in the hangar for a Maintenance Visit (M/V); which was effective for the EMB-145 aircraft that needed the hatches. A Flight Attendant noted during a cabin preflight; that the placards on the Exit hatches indicated they should have been installed on opposite sides of the cabin fuselage from where they were positioned.
A Maintenance Supervisor reports about two overwing emergency exit hatches that had been installed at opposite positions in the cabin of an EMB-145 aircraft. The hatches are interchangeable; only the placard on each hatch determines left and right positions.