EMB ERJ 170/175 ER/LR
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Flight Crew Type 5200
Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Maintenance; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
Human Factors
On day six of reserve after a double deadhead and a limo ride around XA:30 my first officer and I arrived at the hangar to find that they were still painting the aircraft. Around XD:30 the plane was done with paint and the maintenance personnel there said we could do our walk around while they were finishing up paperwork. When I got out to the aircraft there were several people walking around the aircraft opening hatches and making sure it was good to go. Leaving my first officer to do the walk around I went up into the aircraft and started the APU and began looking through the logbook to make sure it was filled out properly. Airworthiness and two day sign offs completed and they were. I then finished the cabin check to make sure everything on the interior was accounted for. When I noticed that my first officer had not come in I went outside to find out what the problem was. He told me that several of the wing and flap rubber seals had been painted over. He also found several pieces of tape that was left over from the painting process. He was of the opinion that we should not accept the aircraft due to the poor quality of the paint job. I talked to the Company personnel there; which included mechanics; about the airworthiness of the aircraft. They were of the opinion that while it did not look good there was nothing unairworthy about the aircraft. I called maintenance control as well and asked them about the painted over seals and was told there was no issue bringing the plane to ZZZ. At that point I decided to fly the aircraft to ZZZ.[4 days later] I found out that a flight discovered that the hydraulic panels were painted shut. While I did not check the hydraulic panels myself I did see one of our mechanics going clockwise around the plane checking the panels to make sure they opened. My assumption at this point is that the paint was still wet when we left and dried them shut. But as I did not open them I cannot be sure. I recommend in the future that all planes picked up from paint should be picked up in the daytime. Doing a thorough inspection by flashlight is difficult. Also a procedure should be made specifying if the flight crew is responsible for verifying the quality of the paint job or not. Had I not been distracted by the poor paint job on other parts of the aircraft perhaps I would have caught the panel being painted shut.
ERJ-175 Captain reported the aircraft was ferried after having been painted. Days later; panels were found painted shut.