Narrative:

This is an operator/paperwork issue. The outer pane of the aircraft was discovered to have cracked. A bombardier engineer was dispatched to the aircraft and applied 'speed tape' to the affected area for flight to the aircraft's home base for repair. The aircraft was flown at 250 KTS; 26;000 ft with a higher cabin to lower the pressure. Both inner and middle pane was intact and 100%. The windshield heat was functional. The engineer; director of maintenance; and operator all stated that the outer pane is not structural; not affected by the MEL in any way; shape or form (only inner and middle panes) and flyable with [speed] tape to the home base for repair. I asked if a ferry permit was needed and told without question that it was definitely not. The director of the company also stated that the designated airworthiness representative (dar) assigned as oversight to the operation in our departure airport; stated no [ferry] permit was required.being that it was a weekend; I tried to ascertain as much information as possible to verify this. I know the bombardier challenger series have windshield issues similar to the global express bd-700 series aircraft and therefore understood the reasoning and similarity considering the manufacturer. The director of maintenance (dom) has extensive experience with challenger and global express aircraft and therefore I have little doubt in his knowledge. My problem as a pilot and not an airframe and powerplant (a&P) technician; is that not all information is available either online; hotline; or elsewhere to assist a pilot in situations like this. I put my trust in those who do specialize in this area; but sometimes get the feeling that they are not being truthful with myself in this case; or the crews to generalize. Deliberately placing me or a crew in harms way would be reckless on his part.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: First Officer reports that pilots do not have any place or resource to go to get unbiased information about Airworthiness concerns of their aircraft. An outer pane of a Captain's forward windshield was found cracked on their BBD-700 aircraft; Speed Tape was applied. An Engineer; the Director of Maintenance (DOM); Director of Operations and Designated Airworthiness Representative (DAR) OK'd the aircraft to be flown to Home Base without any technical data.

Narrative: This is an Operator/paperwork issue. The outer pane of the aircraft was discovered to have cracked. A Bombardier Engineer was dispatched to the aircraft and applied 'Speed Tape' to the affected area for flight to the aircraft's Home Base for repair. The aircraft was flown at 250 KTS; 26;000 FT with a higher cabin to lower the pressure. Both inner and middle pane was intact and 100%. The Windshield Heat was functional. The Engineer; Director of Maintenance; and Operator all stated that the outer pane is not structural; not affected by the MEL in any way; shape or form (only inner and middle panes) and flyable with [Speed] tape to the Home Base for repair. I asked if a Ferry Permit was needed and told without question that it was definitely not. The Director of the company also stated that the Designated Airworthiness Representative (DAR) assigned as oversight to the operation in our departure airport; stated no [Ferry] Permit was required.Being that it was a weekend; I tried to ascertain as much information as possible to verify this. I know the Bombardier Challenger series have windshield issues similar to the Global Express BD-700 series aircraft and therefore understood the reasoning and similarity considering the Manufacturer. The Director of Maintenance (DOM) has extensive experience with Challenger and Global Express aircraft and therefore I have little doubt in his knowledge. My problem as a pilot and not an Airframe and Powerplant (A&P) Technician; is that not all information is available either online; hotline; or elsewhere to assist a pilot in situations like this. I put my trust in those who do specialize in this area; but sometimes get the feeling that they are not being truthful with myself in this case; or the crews to generalize. Deliberately placing me or a crew in harms way would be reckless on his part.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.