Communication Breakdown; Confusion; Distraction; Troubleshooting
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Other / Unknown; Ground Event / Encounter Person / Animal / Bird
General Flight Cancelled / Delayed; General Maintenance Action; General Work Refused
Aircraft; Procedure; Environment - Non Weather Related; Company Policy
I saw a mouse in the cockpit of this aircraft. There are several things that need to be brought to attention from this issue; and the reason for this report is to provide the company and the FAA insight into this occurrence. The mouse infestation itself and the pressure given by the Chief Pilot and the assistant Chief Pilot to fly this airplane with a present safety hazard are the supporting reasons for this report. At the time the mouse was found; the Flight Attendant and I were the only people on the plane; we were waiting for Maintenance to fix COMM Number 1. (COMM 1 wouldn't transmit). Maintenance was on the plane before we walked on to this plane to prepare for our flight for an out and back. I saw a mouse in the cockpit. I was sitting facing the cockpit in seat XA; and as I went to reach for my cell phone to take a picture of the mouse; it scurried back under the instrument panel. It was sitting on my lunch box which was on the floor of the cockpit next to the First Officer's left rudder peddle. I saw it climb on top of my lunch box from near the rudder peddles; and then run off my lunch box and under the instrument panel. We refused the airplane and wrote up finding the mouse in the logbook. Mice are known to chew a lot; and to make nests near and in insulation. Cockpit wiring and insulation could be a desirable location for a mouse to nest. At any rate; who knows where/if it has made a nest and what wires it may have chewed up. (Creating an electrical hazard) Besides a horrible customer service experience (if customers saw it) it's unsanitary and a safety hazard. It needs to be properly addressed and made sure that no wires were chewed by this mouse.... One of my many concerns for this issue is that there may have been more mice that weren't seen given how fast these things reproduce. The Captain was arriving from a different flight; and the Flight Attendant and I had just boarded this plane. We had not flown this plane; but were preparing to; holding off on boarding until the Captain showed up; and Maintenance finished troubleshooting and fixing the COMM 1 issue. When the Captain showed up and was brought up to speed on the issue; she initially didn't feel that finding a mouse in the cockpit warranted a write-up in the aircraft logbook. I expressed my concern that if this plane were to fly; and two weeks from now an electrical fire occurred in flight that there would be at least a paper trail for the FAA to see that mice were an issue on this plane. The Captain quickly agreed to write it up in the logbook. I spoke with Maintenance before and after the write-up occurred for the mouse; and he said he didn't know what they would have to do to correct that issue. That's fine; but it still needed to be documented in my opinion. However; Maintenance didn't disagree with me or the Captain at any point; and that it should be written up. Since we were at the gate; and that it was a weekday; we figured that instead of calling the Chief Pilot we'd just go down to the crew room and speak in person with him. Initially the Chief Pilot (CP) and Assistant Chief Pilot (ACP) were supportive of the write-up and made jokes along the lines of 'snakes on a plane' but to the tune of 'mice on a plane'. It was nice to see that they were backing us up at this point with our decision. This quickly changed when some 10-15 minutes later we found out that there were no spare aircraft for us to take this turn out and back. The Chief Pilot then pressured us to take the plane because he thought that the 'mouse was local and not living on the plane'. He then went on to say that Maintenance removed a panel and didn't find any evidence of a mouse. Keep in mind that this 'search' wasn't long and had been no longer than 15 minutes. (How does the Chief Pilot know that the mouse is 'local'? Is he an expert in this matter?) Furthermore; the Chief Pilot said; 'you've been off the plane for how long now? 30 minutes? So; that mouse could have run off the plane.' I responded that 'That's true I've been absent from the plane for 30 minutes now; but how do you know it hasn't run off the plane?' At this point the Captain said she was now OK with taking the plane as long as there wasn't an alternate airport required for the flight release. What did this have to do with anything? I'm not sure. She said that she was refusing it on a scale of 1-10 as a 6. The Assistant Chief Pilot then came to me and asked me if I'd; 'refuse the plane two weeks from now?' I said; '...probably not. But; I don't think that an adequate search of this plane can be accomplished in 15 minutes to determine that mice aren't an issue or have caused an problems with this plane' I expressed to both the Chief Pilot and the Assistant Chief Pilot that I want to get these people to their destination. But; I wanted a different plane to do this; however. While in the Chief Pilot's Office; he asked us again if we'd fly the plane and that no mouse was found. The Captain said she'd take it. I was upset to hear her say this because we had discussed the hazards of this situation before talking to the Chief Pilot. I told the Captain and the Chief Pilot; '... You (directed to both the Captain and Chief Pilot) can throw me under the bus; but I'm not taking this airplane.' I expressed my concern for several issues: 1) If there were more mice living on the plane we didn't know about. 2) If mice had chewed through and compromised any electrical components. 3) If mice had chewed through and created any electrical shorts. 4) Sanitary concerns with having mice in the public's view. 5) What if passengers saw mice while on the flight? Would that create chaos? Not to mention a horrible customer service experience. 6) What if a mouse came out from hiding and ran up one of the pilot's legs during a critical phase of flight (such as takeoff or landing). That could be a safety hazard for sure. 7) Our planes are a breeding ground now for these things. The planes aren't clean like they used to be. Often time's food particles are left on the floor in the cabin and seat back pockets. Also; the warmth from the avionics could be attractive to nesting mice. At the end of all of this; I was all by myself as the First Officer refusing this plane and not receiving much support from the Captain; and NO support from the Chief Pilot's office. In fact; I was REMOVED off this turn to go do an AVP turn and another First Officer was assigned to work this flight. That night; I read an email from my Irregular Operation Report (IOR) that I filed. The Chief Pilot said: 'After finding evidence of continued presence of the mouse on the aircraft; it was removed from service and is being worked over by a professional exterminator. Thank you for bringing the issue to our attention.' This whole situation infuriated me; as did the response the Chief Pilot gave to my IOR report. I'm a 7 year First Officer and I wasn't given any credit to my concern in the first place. Only after expressing much concern for this issue did they conduct a more thorough search. And? They found something to show that there was a problem with this aircraft. It didn't say anything in this response about how the Chief Pilot was sorry for pressuring me to take this airplane and minimizing my concerns with the plane. Had I caved to the Chief Pilot's pressure to take the plane this plane wouldn't have been taken offline to be dealt with by a professional. And; heaven forbid something catastrophic might have happened at some point with this plane. I wasn't OK flying a plane with mice on it; and didn't want to set a precedence that it was OK to do so. I think that the support given to the crews from the Chief Pilot's office needs to be improved. I understand that we have an operation to run; and people to get to their destinations safely. Key word: safely. And; I feel the Chief Pilot's office failed to do that in this instance. I said to the Chief Pilot that if in 2007 the plane would have been taken offline and been dealt with in a more appropriate matter. So; what's different now? He said; 'We're a different airline now than we were then'. I completely agree that we're a different airline now than we were then. But; are we're dealing with safety differently now?
An EMB-145 First Officer refused to fly an aircraft after he saw a mouse disappear under the First Officer's instrument panel. The aircraft flew a round trip with another pilot and then was removed from service.