EMB ERJ 145 ER/LR
Flight Crew Multiengine; Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP); Flight Crew Instrument
Communication Breakdown; Troubleshooting
Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural FAR; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Maintenance; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Ground Event / Encounter Weather / Turbulence
General Release Refused / Aircraft Not Accepted; General Maintenance Action
Aircraft; Procedure; Human Factors
I was assigned Aircraft X ZZZ-ZZZ1 to reposition a plane that needed a mechanical issue fixed. Upon receiving the aircraft; I noticed the flight deck was unusually warm. The cockpit indication showed 32-33 degrees. The side window vents blew coolish-lukewarm air; and the gasper was blowing HOT air. The side vents air flow was weak and the gasper had strong air flow. I proceeded to write up the aircraft and have Maintenance look at it. After Maintenance did an inspection; they signed the aircraft ok for service with the cockpit indicator still reflecting 33 degrees and feeling unreasonably warm/hot. Surprised that it was signed 'OK for service;' I asked one of the technicians if he agreed with me the cockpit felt hot; he replied 'Yes; I would say it is warm.' I then asked if he agreed the gasper was blowing hot air; and although the side vents were slightly cool to lukewarm with weak airflow; it was not enough to cool the cockpit. He looked away without maintaining eye contact and replied '...well…we have to get this plane to ZZZ1. We don't have the parts here.' I then asked a second time why is the aircraft signed off as 'OK for service.' I received about the same reply. Eventually I was told 'it's your prerogative but it feels fine compared to outside. We are saying it's ok for service.' Shortly after; he left so I then called Maintenance Control and told them the temperature control knobs left in auto were not sufficient to cool the plane at any position; and that if you moved the knobs to manual; it was blowing out warm air immediately followed by hot air within 5 minutes. Maintenance Control replied that he didn't understand as the technician said it was 'OK for service; and only 25 degrees in the cockpit.' My statement to him was 'Absolutely not. It is right now indicating 32 degrees and nothing is fixed. Did you want me to send you a picture of the temperature?' I did not receive a reply as we talked about what the issue could be. I stated to Maintenance Control; 'I have seen this before multiple times and I think either a duct connection is loose; or there is a tear or leak somewhere; did you want me to send a picture of the cockpit temperature to show you what is indicating?' I still received no reply that he wanted evidence so I then asked him for the number I can send it to. When provided and after I sent a picture; he replied 'CABIN temperature looks pretty normal for a summer day' but mentioned absolutely nothing about the cockpit. He thought the plane was 'heat soaked' but I reminded him it had already been running for an hour and a half. I was then instructed and proceeded to run ground air inside the cabin and directly point it at the cockpit. It dropped 8 degrees from 33 to 25 in 20 minutes. I then had the ground air disconnected and within 20 minutes the cockpit heated back up to 31 degrees; and 5-10 minutes later it was again at 32. After writing it up a second time and being told from Maintenance Control it's still probably just 'heat soaked'; the same technician from before came back and I told him what we did. He replied while mumbling something about 'maybe we got some parts lined up and we'll take a look.' The First Officer and I went back inside to cool off and let Maintenance work on it. After 5-6 hours of Maintenance continuously working on the plane; I called Maintenance Control to get an update. Apparently; the technicians did in fact discover a leak(s); and were proceeding to put a sleeve(s) on. An hour later it was still not done (about 6-7 hours of continuous work since the second write up). I then was removed from Aircraft X by scheduling.Cockpit indication and hot feeling in the cockpit.Hot airplane that would not cool down without external air and feeling pressured to take a hot airplane to ZZZ1 for service.Refused the aircraft twice.The main concern is current maintenance practice. I was able to get the technician to agree that it was warm inside the cockpit even though he signed offthe aircraft as 'OK for service' because they could not find anything wrong. I will give the benefit of the doubt that maybe the technician relayed bad information to Maintenance Control and read the temperature of the cabin instead of the cockpit; however; he still told them it felt fine when clearly the temperature control knobs were not functioning properly. There was a second technician that stated the same about it being OK for service. Since the first write up; Maintenance Control had me troubleshoot it for up to 4 hours with/without the technicians. After going through 2 large bottles of water; sweating profusely; and being asked to run the ground air into the back of the aircraft instead of the front this time as it was probably still 'just heat soaked;' I said no and needed a break. Also; I mentioned that based on experience it was probably a leak or tear. Sure enough; after having the technicians look at the aircraft a second time; this is what they found and worked on for several hours. The fact I refused the aircraft twice and they 'found an issue' the second time leads me to believe they knew all along. Especially considering the fact the technician admitted to me that the cockpit would not sufficiently cool but yet signed it off and told maintenance control it was fine. A chief pilot called me to get more information and while I did not feel pressure from him directly to take it; it was clear that the company for one reason or another needed to get this plane to ZZZ1. Again; I did not feel pressure from the chief pilot directly; but I could not help but think everyone in Maintenance knew this plane could not get stuck in ZZZ. I also believe that troubleshooting for Maintenance up to 4 hours is excessive when it was clear the aircraft was not heat soaked but instead was not self-sufficient to cool on its own. I am not a maintenance technician nor one with the most experience; however; I felt undermined from the technicians signing it off and Maintenance Control having me go through the motions of 4 hours of troubleshooting and not one person taking my advice that I had seen this exact issue multiple times. More believably I was ignored and every trick was pulled just to get the aircraft to ZZZ1; i.e.; being told constantly by Maintenance Control we can get the aircraft cool enough with PC air so that we can depart but then reminding them the packs are not working properly and keep heating the plane up. Regardless; the technicians constantly tried to tie the issue to me implying that I was the problem and ultimately it was my call. If this was the case; I do not see why they would have had to work on the aircraft for several hours following my second write up.
EMB-145 Captain reported refusing an aircraft twice when maintenance declined to address the discrepancy and maintenance control pressured him to reposition the aircraft to where the parts were available.