During a postflight inspection; a captain noticed there was an electrical burning smell coming from ...

Narrative:

During the postflight inspection in ZZZ; there was an electrical burning smell coming from the cargo compartment. Maintenance was notified and a contract mechanic came and did an inspection of the cargo bin. He began a conversation with our maintenance controller and I overheard him saying that everything checks out good and list a few things. One thing I overheard was that the fire-ex was checked. Since I had been in or near the cockpit the entire time; I knew this not to be true. So I reached up and flipped the switch (on the fire detect monitor panel). Two messages occurred that are not normal during the test; cargo fan fail and cargo shut-off valve (sov) fail status messages. This ends up requiring an MEL of the entire cargo bin (no bags allowed per MEL). Even with this missed; the chances of a catastrophic accident are small; but our level of safety would have been reduced to an unacceptable level. Outstation maintenance was either lazy; incompetent; or lied. Probably a lot of factors were involved. Inexperience on the part of the outstation personnel coupled with a cultural 'pushing metal' attitude prevalent at our carrier. To me; a burning smell is very serious and I wanted it thoroughly inspected. Our carrier and the outstation personnel were content to sign-off after a very brief inspection.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: During a postflight inspection; a Captain noticed there was an electrical burning smell coming from the cargo compartment of their CRJ-200; contract maintenances was summoned to assist.

Narrative: During the postflight inspection in ZZZ; there was an electrical burning smell coming from the Cargo Compartment. Maintenance was notified and a Contract Mechanic came and did an inspection of the cargo bin. He began a conversation with our Maintenance Controller and I overheard him saying that everything checks out good and list a few things. One thing I overheard was that the fire-ex was checked. Since I had been in or near the Cockpit the entire time; I knew this not to be true. So I reached up and flipped the switch (on the Fire Detect Monitor panel). Two messages occurred that are not normal during the Test; Cargo Fan Fail and Cargo Shut-off Valve (SOV) Fail Status messages. This ends up requiring an MEL of the entire Cargo bin (no bags allowed per MEL). Even with this missed; the chances of a catastrophic accident are small; but our level of safety would have been reduced to an unacceptable level. Outstation Maintenance was either lazy; incompetent; or lied. Probably a lot of factors were involved. Inexperience on the part of the Outstation personnel coupled with a cultural 'pushing metal' attitude prevalent at our carrier. To me; a burning smell is very serious and I wanted it thoroughly inspected. Our carrier and the Outstation personnel were content to sign-off after a very brief inspection.

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.

Attributes
ACN	867420
Time
Date	200912
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Regional Jet 200 ER/LR (CRJ200)
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Parked
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Cargo Pit Compartment
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Type 4000
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Deviation - Procedural MEL

During a postflight inspection; a captain noticed there was an electrical burning smell coming from the cargo compartment of their crj-200; contract maintenances was summoned to assist.