B767 Undifferentiated or Other Model
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP); Flight Crew Flight Instructor; Flight Crew Multiengine; Flight Crew Instrument
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 130; Flight Crew Total 4800; Flight Crew Type 1000
Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Maintenance; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Other / Unknown
General Maintenance Action; General Flight Cancelled / Delayed; General Work Refused
Aircraft; Human Factors; Procedure
The crew members assigned to Aircraft X ZZZ-ZZZZ: Myself and First Officer 1 and [First Officer] 2 reported to the aircraft to start our duties related to the proposed flight. Upon entering the cockpit First Officer 1 and myself noted the APU was running and the GPU was on. First Officer 1 asked me if I wanted for him to proceed to disconnect the GPU. I replied yes and he proceeded. 5 to 10 seconds after he pushes the GPU switch to disconnect we started seeing smoke coming out from the right side of the cockpit; unable to determine where exactly it was coming from. The cockpit quickly was full of smoke; based on odor we could determinate it was electrical fire. We exited the cockpit and I proceeded to call Operations Center. About 30 seconds later the smoke started to dissipate. I called Operations and requested Maintenance to be present in order to investigate the incident. After maintenance personnel showed up we were told to go back to Company pilots facility to wait for instructions. About one hour later we were called back to the airplane. We showed up and we were told the Number 2 CDU was inoperative and that it had been deferred. During the period we were out; maintenance personnel proceeded to write up in the airplane logbook the 'number 2 CDU unit inoperative' they told me the corresponding circuit breaker had been pulled out and that the airplane was back in airworthy condition. I inquired Maintenance about the cause of the fire and if they had made any investigation of the reasons and possible associated damage to the electrical equipment of the aircraft but all I was told was that the CDU was damaged so they proceeded to isolate the unit by pulling the CB (circuit breaker) and deferred the item and that was about all they could do at that point to return the aircraft to airworthy condition. At this point I brought my crew together for a meeting to discuss the situation. We all agreed that we did not feel safe to execute such a complex operation in the current conditions. I; as a Captain of the operation proceeded to listen to the opinions of my two highly experienced and very well trained First Officers; after that I had a phone call with the Chief Pilot and I expressed our concerns and that I would like to request to move the operation to the other airplane of our fleet. We were denied this option by the Director of Maintenance; as another option I was offered the possibility of switching CDU units from [the] new aircraft which after a few minutes was denied by the Director of Maintenance too. At this point I decided to get my crew involved again for another meeting to re-evaluate the situation. Again we all three agreed it was unsafe to fly the aircraft in the current conditions. As a PIC it is my responsibility the safe conduct of every flight; I'm responsible for the safety of the occupants; crew members; cargo and airplane. According to our Operations Manual 'If the PIC knows of any conditions; including weather; equipment; airport; runway or any obstacles observed in the takeoff path that are a hazard to safe operations; normal operations shall be restricted or suspended until those conditions are corrected.' Since the origins and causes of the smoke in the cockpit had not been duly investigated I; as Captain and PIC; after having evaluated the situation; with full support from my crew and in use of the authority and responsibilities conferred; have determined that it was not safe to conduct such operation. I would like to reinforce the fact that the correct write up in the aircraft logbook should have been 'smoke in the cockpit ' which is what I said in my statement to Operations Center and to maintenance personnel; instead of the one made by maintenance personnel referred to the Number 2 CDU unit inoperative. On a last note; on a conference call with the Chief Pilot; Director of Maintenance; Director of Operations; Director of Safety and Operations Manager somebody (I'm unable to determine precisely who) made the following statement 'We cannot have an airplane that has had a smoke in the cockpit situation to return to airworthy condition without an investigation to determine the causes of that condition' and I agreed 100% with that statement and I expressed it in that same call; after that I was kept being pushed very hard by the Chief Pilot to accept the flight; which I refused based on the facts previously stated in this report.
B767 Captain reported refusing an aircraft after a fume/smoke event during pre-flight. Captain stated that Maintenance did not determine the cause of the smoke event.