A319
Other Ramp Lead
Situational Awareness; Communication Breakdown; Time Pressure; Troubleshooting; Training / Qualification
Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural FAR; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Maintenance; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
Aircraft Aircraft Damaged; General Flight Cancelled / Delayed; General Maintenance Action
Human Factors; Aircraft; Procedure
When Aircraft X from ZZZ arrived into ZZZ1; the aft cargo compartment was offloaded by my belly person Name. After the offload was complete Name informed me that there was damage to the cargo compartment. There was a metal strip that became loosened and a gap between the 2 belly panels existed along with the screw hanging. I notified control first of the aircraft damage that I needed maintenance. Manager Name1 said the rubber strip will be repaired at the end of the days flight. I told him its not the rubber strip in the floor. It was a metal strip between the belly panels. Manager Name 1 told Manager Name 2 to come to the gate to see what it was. Manager Name 2 came out a few minutes later and we showed him the video of the damage. Manager Name 2 notified the tower of the damage. Manager Name 2 told me that maintenance will come out and look at it. A short time later a collaboration between me and Manager Name 2 was that I was going to load as far as I can to the damage. The outbound load was only showing about 39 bags and it was Flight XXXX to ZZZ2. My crew and I specifically belly person Name 3 completed the load to that point and we still waited for maintenance. Name 3 was in the belly saw the damage while we waited for maintenance. At about XA:06 Manager Name 2 came to tell me that the Tower said its good to go. I told Manager Name 2 how is Tower going to tell me 'Its good to go' and to push it when no one looked at the damage. I felt that this was unsafe from what I was trained in the past. Any damage to the belly was supposed to be repaired in order to help contain a fire if one should happen to break out. I proceeded to inform the pilot in command of what the damage was. This flight was piloted by Captain A. As per the conversation he was unaware of the damage. He wanted to call maintenance to get clarification. After my conversation with the Captain; I was contacted via the radio by the Manager On Duty (MOD) Name 4. MOD Name 4 asked if I had a push crew and I said yes we are all present. Within about 5 minutes MOD Name 4 came out to Gate XX and wanted to know why we didn't push and why am I pushing 'this issue' with the flight crew. I told him that from what I was trained in the past any damage to the belly had to be repaired. Any belly damage and missing/broken/damaged nets were considered 'NO GO' items that needed to be addressed. He asked me if I was a mechanic and are you qualified to make this decision. I told him no. Then I asked him the same question in return. MOD Name 4 said no and he was told by someone (not sure who he didn't tell me) that it is good to go and will be addressed down line. He seemed to become upset with me and my decision to contact the Pilot In Command on my concerns of safety. He also wanted to see me in 'The office' later. Short time later my push driver told me the Captain wanted to talk to me again. The Captain wanted to know what's going on. I told him that MOD Name 4 is upset that we didn't follow his instruction to push. The Captain said that I did the right thing on reporting the damage and that it is his license on the line as well if something should happen. The Captain wanted to talk to MOD Name 4 on the headset. MOD Name 4 declined. I was directed by MOD Name 4 to take my lunch and talk to him later. I went inside and contacted [a] union representative. The union representative came to the ready room and I had told him what happened from my point of view. The union representative spoke to the Captain for a long period of time. After the conversation Captain and union representative both came back into the ready room and in front of my entire crew and myself; he told me I did the right thing by bringing it to his attention and he will take care of this incident on his end. I was given the Captain's information if I needed follow up. The flight eventually pushed out about 54 minutes past departure time.
Lead Ramp Agent reported being pressured by a manager to ignore damage to the cargo pit floor and push the aircraft for an on time departure. The Ramp Agent declined and talked to the Captain; who followed up with required procedures.