Regional Jet 900 (CRJ900)
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP); Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Multiengine
Communication Breakdown
Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Maintenance; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural FAR; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
General Flight Cancelled / Delayed; General Maintenance Action; General Release Refused / Aircraft Not Accepted
Aircraft; Company Policy; Manuals; Procedure
After our 1st aircraft was taken to the hangar for failing its main strut repacking inspection; we deplaned and were swapped to Aircraft X which was at the hanger. When it arrived at [gate] and we found a bolt taped to the left flap track fairing during the walk-around and in the cockpit we discovered 7 or 8 open circuit breakers. I called Maintenance Control to make write ups and was told write ups would not be necessary because the plane came from Maintenance. A line mechanic would just insert the bolt and we could reset all the open CB's (Circuit Breakers). I refused and made a write ups for the bolt and the breakers; because it needed to be documented that the plane was returned to service (green) in this condition. This is not the first time I've been assigned a plane that came from the hanger and was placed online before maintenance procedures were complete. I told Maintenance Control that I was concerned this was the same case and that they should make some calls to find out if this plane's Maintenance was indeed finished or not. That idea was blown off and we were told the plane was good to go. After boarding we closed the main cabin door and got a passenger door outer handle caution message that would not clear. I wrote it up; Maintenance came out and couldn't get it to clear. After about 15 minutes; Maintenance Control called one of the line mechanics and said the plane's Maintenance from the previous night was not complete and the plane needed to go back to the hangar. We deplaned again. My concern is had that door handle worked we would have pushed and likely flown with unfinished Maintenance. It concerns me that every time I have a questionable Maintenance situation Maintenance Control always tries to say everything is fine just go. And they are often dismissive of even their most experienced pilots' concerns. Yet; we are putting more and more trust in Maintenance to track every inspection and actively trying to prevent pilots from being a potential error barrier by removing as much Maintenance related [information] from the AML as the FAA will allow. Keeping pilots out of the loop regarding the airworthiness of the aircraft they are flying is a really bad idea that reduces the level of safety passengers and crew deserve IMO. This case and other similar experiences I have had indicate that the company's policies for returning aircraft to service after Maintenance are either inadequate; improperly communicated; ineffectively trained; or simply being ignored as a plane should NEVER be returned to service (greened up) before ongoing Maintenance is complete.
Captain reported receiving an aircraft with incomplete maintenance.