An ERJ170 reported that a blue EICAS advisory alert 'brk lh fault' appeared when the landing gear wa...

Narrative:

During the ILS approach we extended the landing gear and received an advisory (blue) EICAS message 'brk lh fault'. We were already configured for landing and just passing the FAF. The weather was VMC. I stated that since it was an advisory message we would continue with the landing and advise maintenance on the ground at the gate. I was aware of the message but did not feel any concern about abandoning the approach. We landed with flaps 5 without incident. After parking at the gate and deplaning the passengers I proceeded to write up the maintenance discrepancy in the logbook and notify maintenance control. While waiting for a mechanic I was thinking more about the incident and thought to myself it unusual that any sort of brake indications would not warrant an EICAS caution message with a QRH procedure. For my own knowledge I picked up the QRH to see what guidance it had about any brake messages. I started with 'brk lh fault' since that is what we just had. I was expecting to see it included with all the other 'advisory' messages and just be told it was for crew awareness. To my surprise I found that there was a procedure involved that we did not comply with. I would like to suggest that the EICAS message 'brk lh(rh) fault' be changed to a cautionary yellow message with chime to indicate a more serious brake condition with a QRH procedure to accomplish before landing. If that cannot be accomplished then at a minimum a procedure should be included in the pilot operating handbook abnormal procedures making crew members aware that an advisory message has an associated procedure. It should not be a blue advisory message with no chime because then it is lumped into the category of 'crew awareness'. To me; this group means no danger.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An ERJ170 reported that a blue EICAS advisory alert 'BRK LH FAULT' appeared when the landing gear was lowered. The crew continued the approach and did not consult the QRH because the advisory status of the alert did not appear serious.

Narrative: During the ILS approach we extended the landing gear and received an advisory (blue) EICAS message 'BRK LH FAULT'. We were already configured for landing and just passing the FAF. The weather was VMC. I stated that since it was an advisory message we would continue with the landing and advise Maintenance on the ground at the gate. I was aware of the message but did not feel any concern about abandoning the approach. We landed with flaps 5 without incident. After parking at the gate and deplaning the passengers I proceeded to write up the maintenance discrepancy in the logbook and notify Maintenance Control. While waiting for a Mechanic I was thinking more about the incident and thought to myself it unusual that any sort of brake indications would not warrant an EICAS caution message with a QRH procedure. For my own knowledge I picked up the QRH to see what guidance it had about any brake messages. I started with 'BRK LH FAULT' since that is what we just had. I was expecting to see it included with all the other 'advisory' messages and just be told it was for crew awareness. To my surprise I found that there was a procedure involved that we did not comply with. I would like to suggest that the EICAS message 'BRK LH(RH) FAULT' be changed to a cautionary yellow message with chime to indicate a more serious brake condition with a QRH procedure to accomplish before landing. If that cannot be accomplished then at a minimum a procedure should be included in the Pilot Operating Handbook Abnormal Procedures making crew members aware that an advisory message has an associated procedure. It should not be a blue advisory message with no chime because then it is lumped into the category of 'Crew Awareness'. To me; this group means no danger.

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	872047
Time
Date	201002
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	EMB ERJ 170/175 ER&LR
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Initial Approach
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Normal Brake System
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Person 2
Function	Pilot Not Flying First Officer
Qualification	Flight Crew Commercial
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy

An ERJ170 reported that a blue EICAS advisory alert 'brk lh fault' appeared when the landing gear was lowered. The crew continued the approach and did not consult the QRH because the advisory status of the alert did not appear serious.