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B757-200 captain refused an aircraft with an inoperative APU. Reporter believes maintenance attempted to intimidate him to accept the aircraft.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 845155 |
| Time | |
| Date | 200907 |
| Local Time Of Day | 1801-2400 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | SEA.Airport |
| State Reference | WA |
| Environment | |
| Flight Conditions | VMC |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | B757-200 |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | Parked |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Component | |
| Aircraft Component | APU |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Pilot Flying Captain |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) |
| Experience | Flight Crew Last 90 Days 130 Flight Crew Total 17500 Flight Crew Type 5000 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy |
Narrative:
Our flight was dispatched with the APU inoperative. Captain contacted dispatch for aircraft refusal. Within 5 minutes operations contacted the captain with a message that maintenance wanted to talk to him. They patched the captain through to maintenance personnel who then told the captain the overnight work that occurred on the aircraft and asked if he would reconsider his decision. Since the decision was safety related and not related to the availability of manpower; parts or time - the decision remained unchanged. This could easily be classified as 'not so subtle' pilot pushing. Captain remained professional throughout and stood by his decision to not compromise the safety of his passengers.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: B757-200 Captain refused an aircraft with an inoperative APU. Reporter believes maintenance attempted to intimidate him to accept the aircraft.
Narrative: Our flight was dispatched with the APU inoperative. Captain contacted Dispatch for aircraft refusal. Within 5 minutes operations contacted the Captain with a message that maintenance wanted to talk to him. They patched the Captain through to maintenance personnel who then told the Captain the overnight work that occurred on the aircraft and asked if he would reconsider his decision. Since the decision was safety related and not related to the availability of manpower; parts or time - the decision remained unchanged. This could easily be classified as 'not so subtle' pilot pushing. Captain remained professional throughout and stood by his decision to not compromise the safety of his passengers.
Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.