Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 220; Flight Crew Total 34000; Flight Crew Type 11000
Communication Breakdown; Confusion
Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
General Maintenance Action
Aircraft; Chart Or Publication; Procedure; Manuals; Human Factors; Company Policy
February 2014. Trip XXX; B757-200 Aircraft. Found Right IDG with no oil showing in sight gauge and no 'OK' [indication] in IDG sight gauge. According to responding Technician; it required two quarts to service to full. Trip YYY March 2014; B757. Found oil quantity in BOTH IDGs below minimum service level. Trip ZZZ March 2014; B757. Found Right IDG with no oil showing in sight gauge and no 'OK' in sight gauge. According to the responding Technician; IDG required two quarts to service to full. B757 aircraft IDGs hold 4.25 quarts.There are several problems which seem to be leading to this problem as I detailed in a report to the ZZZ Chief Pilot's office in November 2013; but one of them is that the checking of the IDG oil quantity has been removed from the S-1 Service Check and; more importantly; from the ETOPS Pre-Departure Check (PDC). One of the responding technicians explained that the rationale for this change was that some; or all; of the Generator Drives from the B757s that came with the Air Carrier we had merged with; do not have sight gauges installed and that in any event; technicians always look for leaks when doing a general inspection of aircraft. I don't know anything about the design of the Generator Drives from the merged B757s; but it seems obvious that not checking the IDG oil quantity on our B757 fleet is resulting in aircraft departing on ETOPS and other flights with IDG oil on one or more IDGs below minimum service level. At a minimum; IDG Oil quantity should be checked before an ETOPS departure. Checking both IDGs takes about one minute total and seems like a reasonable investment of time.
Reporter stated that servicing the IDGs takes some time to perform correctly since the pressure fill procedure requires a liter of oil to drain into an overflow bottle to verify proper filling of the IDG drive. Removing the IDG Oil Quantity Check from the Pre-departure Check (PDC) for ETOPS departures and from the Maintenance Service Checks that occur every 72-hours does not seem to be a safe practice for aircraft that fly over the pond. The removal of the IDG Oil Quantity from their B757 ETOPS PDCs and Service Checks allows B757s to fly roundtrip ETOPS flights without ever checking the IDG oil quantity. Reporter stated that even though the Maintenance Manual (M/M) notes that the IDGs could operate approximately five hours with oil quantity below minimums; he always asks: 'just when does that 5-hour clock start'? Because there are no EICAS warnings; message or indications available to the Flight crew that the IDG Oil Quantity is low or below minimums.
Captain raises concerns about their merged Air Carrier removing the IDG Oil Quantity Checks from their Service Checks and Pre-Departure Checks (PDC) on B757 aircraft. That practice has resulted in aircraft departing on ETOPS and other flights with IDG Oil Quantities below minimum service levels. No EICAS messages or warnings available to alert flight crews to an IDG low oil quantity.