Date: 201701
Local time of day: 0601-1200
Location: ZZZ.Airport, US
Light: Night
Aircraft: A320
Operator: Air Carrier
Operating under: Part 121
Mission: Passenger
Flight phase: Parked
Aircraft component: Aileron Control System
Component problem: Improperly Operated
Reporter organization: Air Carrier
Reporter function: Technician
Reporter qualification: Maintenance Powerplant; Maintenance Airframe
Human factors: Time Pressure; Workload; Situational Awareness
Second reporter function: Technician
Anomaly: Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Maintenance; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
Detector: Person Maintenance
When detected: Other During ops check.
Result: Aircraft Aircraft Damaged; General Maintenance Action
Contributing factors: Equipment / Tooling; Human Factors; Procedure; Aircraft
Primary problem: Human Factors

Narrative: I was assisting on a aileron servo change for Aircraft X. We were directed by maintenance control to change the servo on the left hand side of the aircraft. During the job setup we pulled all maintenance manual reference's to do the work. We needed an Aileron collar per the maintenance manual which we did not have. We continued to go ahead with the work as per the direction of our lead mechanic. During the course of the night we used a socket to prop up the aileron to keep it from drooping down and to aid me to give more help in removing and installing the left hand aileron servo. We contacted Quality Assurance (QA) to do a pre-installation inspection and was given the ok to install the servo. After we had installed the servo we had to perform a torque on both main bolts at this time another QA inspector came to relieve the night shift inspector. The oncoming QA inspector witnessed the torque of both bolts. At this time we were ready to install 2 cotter pins we ordered earlier from the Illustrated Parts Catalog (IPC). QA stated the cotter pins look to short so he went to the hangar to look for some longer cotter pins and he instructed us to pressurize the hydraulic system and check for leaks as he was looking for cotter pins. [A technician] and I went up to the cockpit to make sure the hydraulic system was fully pressurized on the aircraft. I went down to check for leaks and [the technician] come off the aircraft and asked me if the socket we had used as a prop was removed. At this time I noticed the socket was jammed into the lower part of the aileron and breaking the fiber laminate. QA returned and we told him of our issue. We had forgotten the socket was still holding the aileron from drooping. We had also rushed to power up the aircraft without checking the work area for tools. Since the aircraft was on the gate and due to fly in a few hours we felt rushed to get the task finished so we would not add to any delay of the flight.We had our supervisor and manager document the event and pictures were taken during this time. We were allowed the continue working on the aircraft to finish up the installation.  Once we had found out we did not have the tool we needed to perform the task we should have stopped. Also to notify our superiors that the task could not be performed due to the missing tool.


Second narrative: [Report narrative contained no additional information.]


Synopsis: Maintenance technicians reported discovering damage to the left hand aileron of an A320 due to a socket being used as an improvised tool.