Regional Jet 700 ER/LR (CRJ700)
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Other / Unknown; Time Pressure
Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural MEL / CDL; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
General None Reported / Taken
Human Factors
First flight for crew in this aircraft. Informed maintenance of R HYD SOV no responsiveness to closing commands. Maintenance deferred the Hydraulic SOV under MEL XY-XX. This MEL also requires that MEL XY-YY be complied with. The deferral procedure occurred fairly quickly; which surprised me because; in the past; I have received mechanic estimates for these procedures ranging anywhere from 30 minutes to 4 hours. Because of the quickness; I directly asked the mechanic to confirm that the right engine hydraulic pump had indeed been removed; that the cover plate had been installed; and that the hydraulic lines had been disconnected and capped. The mechanic answered affirmatively to all these queries.The next morning I asked about the status of the aircraft. I was informed that none of the deferral procedures had been done the night before. This meant that we had operated an aircraft in which an engine fire would have resulted in a catastrophic event. There would have been no way to shut off the flow of flammable hydraulic fuel to the engine area! This is the reason for the extensive procedures required by the MEL and maintenance manuals. Furthermore; in making the decision not to comply with the MEL; and in deliberately lying to me about the airworthiness of the aircraft; both the crew and passengers were placed in an extremely dangerous and life-threatening situation.I will physically inspect any maintenance work done on an aircraft for which I am the Captain and in which a failure of maintenance to perform as expected by the [government] could result in harm to my crew and passengers. In [all my] years at this airline I have always respected the integrity of our maintenance department - that trust is now gone.
A CRJ-700 Captain discovered that an MEL procedure had been ignored.