Narrative:

Pushed back from the gate. While performing the flight controls check; first officer found that the control wheel was binding and not moving smoothly when he moved it left and right. He pointed this out to me so I exercised the control wheel and agreed with him. Per the SOP; we are to check for smooth movement without binding. Obviously; the check failed. We wrote it up; and I contact dispatch who put me thru to maintenance. The first a&P soon arrived and trouble shot the system. He found that the system was not operational or safe for flight. He shared with the crew and I he would not be able to sleep at night if he signed it off. He stated that he was going to ground the plane. He seemed to be implying pressure from maintenance [control] to sign it off.I believe after an hour or so; another a&P arrived. He stated that he was one of the owners or something to that effect. He did not open any panels nor did I see him manipulate the control wheel at this point in time. He stated maintenance [control] wanted him to fax a copy of the log can to him and he'd be back. During all of this; I attempted to stay in the loop and up to date with our dispatcher and various members of maintenance. No one from my company ever attempted to explain to me what was going on or what the game plan was.not long after the second a&P left with the log can; I shut the plane down and the crew and I went to wait in the terminal. We all figured we were done for the day; it was just a matter of scheduling calling us to notify us. After some time; I saw the second a&P's truck parked by the plane. I went down to speak with him. He had filled out the corrective action page; but had not signed it. He explained the pressure involved in the situation and did not know what to do. I stated that if he signed it off; all I could do was another ops check. If ops check [was] good; per the SOP; I'd fly the plane. If not; then it is my legal responsibility to write it back up. After he signed it off; I ops checked and it failed again. The second a&P explained to me that maintenance [control] had told him that the crew was fine with operating the aircraft in the current condition. Something to the effect this happens a lot and they have ferried a bunch of aircraft with this same problem.question? How does maintenance know exactly what is wrong if they have not laid eyes or a hand on it. Why is the company allowing pilots to operate aircraft that are not airworthy? Surely; [we] are not the only pilots who perform the flight controls checklist and adhere to it? Also; for the ferry permit; it states 'freedom of movement'. So; now I have two documents that the aircraft's status does not agree with.after writing the aircraft up and calling maintenance to report it was really weird. Maintenance told me I would have to call dispatch instead of them telling [dispatch]. I called dispatch and I was put through to a supervisor who stated she was going to bring [another person] into the call. [The second person] got on the phone and he started berating me to the point that I felt harassed. He was condescending; belittling; and seemed angry and combative. He questioned me something to the effect of did I know more than maintenance. I stated I was following the SOP and he raised his voice and stated; he knew what the SOP said [because] he wrote it. At some point during his verbal attack on me; he stated to [the supervisor] to remove me from duty and they would get another captain to fly the plane. At that point; I felt I was being bullied. He was trying the indirectly threaten me and bully me to operate the aircraft. My entire crew witnessed this conversation from my end.I would like to point out that I was acting in accordance with [a] safety statement as well as 14CFR 121.627(a). It appears those collaborating with him in this situation were attempting to hinder me in performing my legal duties as PIC. I assume they removed me from duty because I would not fly the aircraft illegally; but I was never given; nor have I been given; a reason I was removed from duty or why I have to come see the chief pilot. I recommend listening to the tapes. With all that said; the last interesting thing that took place was later that night when I called and attempted to [jumpseat] myself home on a [another company's aircraft] that left before the flight I was scheduled on. The scheduler asked me something to the effect of what time the flight left. She put me on hold then came back and told me I had to take the DH [deadhead] they had me on and I could not [jumpseat]. This was per her supervisor who had conveniently also just left for the night. She then stated something to the effect of if I had a problem with it; to call the chief pilot. Again; I know you can probably listen to the tapes. I can't ever remember being denied a [jumpseat] when the last leg of my trip is a DH [deadhead].

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A CRJ flight crew reported that the ailerons felt very rough and had loud clicks during preflight flight control checks.

Narrative: Pushed back from the gate. While performing the Flight Controls check; First Officer found that the control wheel was binding and not moving smoothly when he moved it left and right. He pointed this out to me so I exercised the control wheel and agreed with him. Per the SOP; we are to check for smooth movement without binding. Obviously; the Check FAILED. We wrote it up; and I contact Dispatch who put me thru to Maintenance. The first A&P soon arrived and trouble shot the system. He found that the system was NOT operational or SAFE for flight. He shared with the crew and I he would not be able to sleep at night if he signed it off. He stated that he was going to GROUND THE PLANE. He seemed to be implying pressure from Maintenance [Control] to sign it off.I believe after an hour or so; another A&P arrived. He stated that he was one of the owners or something to that effect. He did not open any panels nor did I see him manipulate the control wheel at this point in time. He stated Maintenance [Control] wanted him to fax a copy of the log can to him and he'd be back. During all of this; I attempted to stay in the loop and up to date with our Dispatcher and various members of Maintenance. No one from my company ever attempted to explain to me what was going on or what the game plan was.Not long after the second A&P left with the log can; I shut the plane down and the crew and I went to wait in the terminal. We all figured we were done for the day; it was just a matter of scheduling calling us to notify us. After some time; I saw the second A&P's truck parked by the plane. I went down to speak with him. He had filled out the corrective action page; BUT had not signed it. He explained the pressure involved in the situation and did not know what to do. I stated that if he signed it off; all I could do was another ops check. If ops check [was] good; per the SOP; I'd fly the plane. If not; then it is my legal responsibility to write it back up. After he signed it off; I ops checked and it FAILED again. The second A&P explained to me that Maintenance [Control] had told him that the crew was fine with operating the aircraft in the current condition. Something to the effect this happens a lot and they have ferried a bunch of aircraft with this same problem.QUESTION? How does Maintenance know exactly what is wrong if they have not laid eyes or a hand on it. Why is the company allowing pilots to operate aircraft that are not airworthy? Surely; [we] are not the only pilots who perform the Flight Controls Checklist and adhere to it? Also; for the Ferry Permit; it states 'Freedom of Movement'. So; now I have two documents that the aircraft's status does NOT agree with.After writing the aircraft up and calling Maintenance to report it was really weird. Maintenance told me I would have to call Dispatch instead of them telling [Dispatch]. I called Dispatch and I was put through to a Supervisor who stated she was going to bring [another person] into the call. [The second person] got on the phone and he started berating me to the point that I felt harassed. He was condescending; belittling; and seemed angry and combative. He questioned me something to the effect of did I know more than Maintenance. I stated I was following the SOP and he raised his voice and stated; he knew what the SOP said [because] he wrote it. At some point during his verbal attack on me; he stated to [the Supervisor] to remove me from duty and they would get another Captain to fly the plane. At that point; I felt I was being bullied. He was trying the indirectly threaten me and bully me to operate the aircraft. My entire crew witnessed this conversation from my end.I would like to point out that I was acting in accordance with [a] SAFETY STATEMENT as well as 14CFR 121.627(a). It appears those collaborating with him in this situation were attempting to hinder me in performing my legal Duties as PIC. I assume they removed me from duty because I would not fly the aircraft illegally; but I was never given; nor have I been given; a reason I was removed from duty or why I have to come see the Chief Pilot. I recommend listening to the tapes. With all that said; the last interesting thing that took place was later that night when I called and attempted to [jumpseat] myself home on a [another company's aircraft] that left before the flight I was scheduled on. The scheduler asked me something to the effect of what time the flight left. She put me on hold then came back and told me I had to take the DH [deadhead] they had me on and I could not [jumpseat]. This was per her supervisor who had conveniently also just left for the night. She then stated something to the effect of if I had a problem with it; to call the Chief Pilot. Again; I know you can probably listen to the tapes. I can't ever remember being denied a [jumpseat] when the last leg of my trip is a DH [deadhead].

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site 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.