Date: 201910
Local time of day: 0601-1200
Location: LAX.Airport, CA
Flight conditions: VMC
Light: Daylight
Aircraft: A320
Operator: Air Carrier
Operating under: Part 121
Flight plan: IFR
Mission: Passenger
Flight phase: Climb
Airspace: Class B LAX
Aircraft component: Fan Reverser
Component problem: Malfunctioning
Reporter organization: Air Carrier
Reporter function: Pilot Flying
Reporter qualification: Flight Crew Multiengine; Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Anomaly: Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
Detector: Person Flight Crew
When detected: In-flight; Pre-flight
Result: General Maintenance Action
Contributing factors: Aircraft; Manuals
Primary problem: Aircraft

Narrative: We pushed back and started engine 1 when we got an ECAM for ENG 2 REV MINOR FAULT. Called Maintenance and they had us start the number 2 engine and then bring back thrust levers into the reverse position momentarily to reset the fault. It worked and the message went away.  We departed and were climbing on the SID (I think about 2;000 feet) when we then got an ECAM for ENG 1 REVERSER FAULT. There were no associated 'to-do's' on the ECAM which drove us to the QRH. The QRH starts with a bullet point 'If reverser position fault with reverser pressurized: LAND ASAP (AMBER).' It then directs us to bring the number 1 engine to idle. A big note here is that the ECAM did not have the AMBER LAND ASAP message whereas the QRH did. So we were receiving some conflicting information. All engine parameters and all system page parameters were indicating normal. We exercised the thrust lever into the idle position and back to climb and everything looked normal. So our big question was 'is the reverser pressurized?' and how to tell. We contacted Maintenance through Dispatch via ACARS. Maintenance eventually said they believed the reverser was not in threat of deployment. I asked if Dispatch if they wanted us to divert to ZZZ (along the route of flight) or ZZZ1 (home base for Maintenance) and they said to continue to LAX. The Pilot Monitoring and I believed it was not in threat of deployment as the ECAM did not have the associated AMBER LAND ASAP displayed. We did continue to LAX without incident and landed without using any reversers. Maintenance then MELed the reverser. I spoke with the Maintenance department when I landed in LAX and asked what it meant to have the reverser pressurized. And he told me that in the QRH that 'pressurized' meant 'deployed'. So the QRH was directing us to bring the thrust lever to IDLE and LAND ASAP only if the reverser were deployed. I'm not so sure I agree with that statement.  From the time we first contacted Maintenance in the air via ACARS until we had a final direction from Maintenance that the reverser was most likely a fault and nothing physically wrong with it was about 40 minutes.I think the QRH needs to be reviewed and some better information put out there to the pilot group as to what is meant by a pressurized reverser. Also; we need to streamline the information process as 40 minutes is a long time to be flying around without good direction from maintenance as to what is meant by a pressurized reverser.




Synopsis: A320 pilot reported ECAM for ENG 1 REVERSER FAULT inflight.