Regional Jet 900 (CRJ900)
Maintenance Airframe; Maintenance Powerplant
Situational Awareness; Training / Qualification; Workload
Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Maintenance; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
Aircraft Aircraft Damaged; General Maintenance Action
Aircraft; Human Factors
I removed and replaced the Number 1 Main Landing Gear (MLG) wheel and tire assembly on Aircraft X. Upon installing the new tire I noticed a small portion of the strut was more visual than normal. I backed the assembly off and reset it again when I still noticed something strange. I called my lead mechanic over to inspect the wheel. He agreed with me that everything looked to be normal. I proceeded with the Removal and installation per the [maintenance] task. Nothing else seemed out of the ordinary. I was notified later that there was no bearing present in the wheel and tire assembly and that damage had been caused to the aircraft.Was detected later that day by flight crew on taxi. The bearing was found in the hangar on the hub caps used to enclose the tires. Someone had moved the hubcaps for me since I was very busy working all night. No one found or noticed the bearing until after the incident. There was no bearing present in the wheel and tire assembly. Work overload on our night shifts. I have changed dozen of MLG wheel and tire assemblies the bearings have never been an issue for me. It must have come out when I was removing the hubcap from the Wheel and Tire assembly. The bearings are held in by rubber and do not normally just fall out they are held securely in the assembly unless pushed or pulled out. The rod used on the blue hubcaps must have pulled the bearing out of the assembly without me noticing.I would suggest placing placards on the tire and making the bearing more visible in the wheel assembly. I believe the rod holding the hubcap on the tire is not a sufficient way of holding it on and find a new method could prevent like this in the future. Mainly making the bearing more visible after installation would help significantly.
CRJ-900 Maintenance Technician reported a Main Landing Gear wheel assembly was installed without a bearing.