Regional Jet 200 ER/LR (CRJ200)
Flight Crew Commercial
Communication Breakdown; Situational Awareness; Time Pressure; Training / Qualification
Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural FAR
General Maintenance Action
Aircraft; Company Policy; Human Factors; Logbook Entry
On preflight; when checking the Aft Equipment Bay for the first flight security sweep; I found the Left-Hand (LH) Chip Detector Light illuminated. Discussed the light with the Captain and because of the likelihood of a long delay in ZZZ; we elected to come to ZZZ1 and report the light 'On'. In ZZZ1; Maintenance found enough debris that the aircraft was removed from service to flush the oil system and recheck for debris. [Contributors]:1) There is no guidance for the flight crew regarding the chip detector. It is not part of the normal preflight inspection but the light is obvious if 'On'. Without guidance there is confusion as to whether this is something we should check or even be concerned about if it is 'On'. 2) The most common time to find this light 'On'; is during the first flight of the day preflight which is usually at an outstation. Due to the difficulty of getting Maintenance to the Outstation and the likelihood of a lengthy delay; it is difficult to convince myself; much less the Captain; that we should report the problem at the Outstation. This is the second time in the last two months I have delayed reporting the light 'On' to avoid delay at the Outstation. This is the first time out of six previous that required more than a simple cleaning of the detector. [Recommend that] clear guidelines for how the flight crew should react to the chip detector being 'On'; would prevent this in the future!
A First Officer reports departing with the Left-Hand (LH) Chip Detector Light illuminated on their CRJ-200 aircraft. Maintenance at a downline Station found enough debris in chip detector to remove aircraft from service. Pilot noted that unclear guidance on chip detector light and on-time departure pressures were contributors.