Air carrier CRJ200 Flight Crew reported during a test flight the aircraft experienced control problems which resulted in return to departure airport. Flight Crew also reported afterwards they were dispatched to the flight; yet were not qualified to conduct a test flight.
Synopsis
Air carrier CRJ200 Flight Crew reported during a test flight the aircraft experienced control problems which resulted in return to departure airport. Flight Crew also reported afterwards they were dispatched to the flight; yet were not qualified to conduct a test flight.
Narrative
On Day 0; I did a double deadhead to ZZZ to pick up Aircraft X from post-paint. When we arrived; we were picked up by a rep and were informed then that the aircraft was going to need a check flight; and the airplane paperwork was not ready. When I left ZZZ1; I was never told that I would be conducting a check flight. After discovering this; I called Dispatch and Maintenance to ask them about it and what this check flight entailed.I was told the aircraft needed to be flown at 10;000FT with the auto-pilot off and extend the flaps all the way to 45 degrees to see if I would experience any rolling motion from the aircraft as experienced by the previous flight crew. The flight plan had been filed all the way to ZZZ2 with additional fuel to conduct the check. Dispatch and Maintenance had all agreed that if the plane flew fine; I was to continue with the flight to ZZZ2. If I did not feel the aircraft's issue was resolved; I was told to return to ZZZ.For some context; the previous flight crew had picked up the airplane from ZZZ3 and flown it into ZZZ for paint. On the way; they had experienced an autopilot trim caution message and excessive roll to the right. The crew wrote it up and the issue was worked on while the aircraft stayed in ZZZ for paint. The aircraft was not completely signed off because it required for us to conduct the check flight.Paperwork took two hours after we had arrived to be completed. Once we had the paperwork; we were escorted to the aircraft. Both the FO (First Officer) and I completed the Post-Paint inspection; as well as the first flight of the day checks. It has been a couple months since the event; but I remember the fire detection system had an issue; therefore we had to defer the APU. We then coordinated with Clearance and asked them we needed to level off at 10;000FT to do some checks on the aircraft before continuing. If I remember correctly; he said to just coordinate with Approach. I went over the whole plan of action with the FO before going airborne.We departed and once we leveled off at 10;000FT; we started deploying our flaps. I instructed the FO to take some pictures of ED2 during the different configurations and airspeeds. (attached is a picture with trim at setting other than 45 and one with flap 45 setting). I was trimming the airplane during each phase. The aircraft required very small amount of left aileron trim. The aircraft flew fine until we selected the flaps to 45 degrees. At that moment; I felt the aircraft really wanting to roll over and the controls felt a little mushy to me. We stayed at this configuration for probably 10 seconds max before I called for flaps 8 and cleaned up the airplane. During the 10 seconds that the flaps were at 45; it was difficult to maintain heading and since we had a lot of drag; altitude. We then told ATC we were going to return back to ZZZ. During that time; Dispatch had sent us a message to ask us how the check was going. We then replied that the check did not go well and that we were going to return to ZZZ as had been discussed. During the way back in; I decided to fly the approach at Vref plus 10 since I felt the controls very mushy at altitude. We had plenty of runway. I also pre-emptively added a little extra trim to the left before applying the flaps at 45 so I would not have to fight the controls once the last notch of flaps was applied. Afterwards; I trimmed the airplane as best as I could and told the FO to take a picture of ED2. Landed in ZZZ and taxied back to the paint shop. I ended up telling the FO to leave the trim at its current position so Maintenance could take a look at how much was needed.We called Dispatch and Maintenance. We were told to wait at the paint shop for additional steps. After multiple calls to Dispatch and Scheduling to figure out what we were going to do; we were sent to the hotel with no predetermined show time for the following day. This was a bit frustrating; but after having a long day and being in theheat; we just headed to the hotel and to get a bite to eat. After multiple attempts to get an answer on what we were to do the following day; we were told that we would have to ferry the airplane to ZZZ2.Both the FO and I did not like the idea of having to ferry all the way to ZZZ2. We both said; why not ZZZ3. It is a much shorter distance than to have to fly an airplane with no auto-pilot; and probably at low altitude all the way to ZZZ2. We ended up agreeing to just sleep on it and making a final determination the following day.The following day; I got a call from scheduling informing me that both my FO and I would just deadhead back to ZZZ1 and that we were not going to ferry after all.Recently I was told that I was not qualified to do such flight which is the reason for my report. After finding this out; I informed my FO of the recent discovery and he was able to find in the FOM Test Flights; that 'All other test flights; including post heavy checks; engine changes; and FLIGHT CONTROL CHANGES may be accomplished by a line qualified Captain and First Officer in weather conditions that are suitable for Dispatch under 14CFR Part 121 regulations.With that said; I don't think we did anything wrong. However; I don't think we should be doing these types of check flights. The only training we get is slow flight and stalls in the sim. We have never flown an actual CRJ 200 at 10;000FT with the flaps fully deployed. In the future though for this type of check flights; I recommend that someone that has been through the Maintenance Check Flight training accomplish this check. Also; as it has been brought to my attention; if we were not supposed to do this type of flight; why did Dispatch and Maintenance tell us to do it? If I was not supposed to do it; I apologize. I was simply following orders from above and did not intend to break any SOPs."
Second reporter narrative
At the end of Day 0; scheduling assigned me a flight which was a Maintenance heavy check flight. The airplane was having roll issues with full flaps; as reported by the previous crew; so we were instructed to check the flaps in flight and if everything is good to fly to ZZZ1. We picked up the plane from ZZZ. It had just gone through a paint job and apparently; the problem was also worked on. Both the CA (Captain) and I did a thorough preflight since the problem included flight controls. Everything appeared to be good outside. Inside; while running some checks we noticed a problem with the APU fire detection system; so we called Maintenance and it was put on MEL. After receiving our paperwork; we went over our plan of action for the flight discussing both options of continuing or coming back if necessary. CA was PF (Pilot Flying); FO (First Officer) was PM (Pilot Monitoring). We took off and climbed to 10;000ft. We requested ATC to leave us at that altitude to perform some checks and they allowed us. We proceeded to slow down to drop the flaps in order to see if the roll issue was still there. At 8; 20; 30 position; some aileron trim was needed but the plane was controllable. I was instructed to take pictures of the ED2 at different flap positions so we can show the aileron trim position to Maintenance later. With full flaps; controls became very sluggish; almost full aileron trim was required to maintain level flight. We didn't stay at this configuration for too long and neither was I able to take a picture due to the airplane being very difficult to control. We cleaned the plane and decided to go back to ZZZ. Advised ATC of our intentions and they vectored us back to the airport. At the same time; Dispatch was informed of the situation. When coming in for the landing and after dropping full flaps; we experienced the same issue with the controls again; this time I was able to take a picture of the aileron trim. We landed safely and taxied back to the hangar. CA said to leave the aileron trim in the current configuration so Maintenance can see. We then talked to Dispatch and Maintenance and told them about the issue. We were told to just sit there and wait. After a very long wait; multiple calls to the company (with no specific answer for us of what to do) and nothing to eat the whole day; we were told we were going to be spending the night there. After we got to the hotel; CA informed me that company had said we will have to ferry the plane to ZZZ1 the next day. Based on the plane's flying conditions we had just experienced; none of us liked that idea. The next day; company decided to leave the plane there and DH (Deadhead) us back to base.I just received a call from the CA saying he was told that we were not qualified to do that flight. However; after reading the appropriate section on our FOM for this situation; it mentions that this kind of flight can be done by a line qualified pilot without any extra required training. We are both line qualified pilots. Hence; to my understanding; we were qualified to do it. I would like to emphasize the fact that this was a flight assigned to me by scheduling. If I was really not qualified for these kinds of flights; why did they assign me this flight knowing that I would possibly be breaking a rule. Scheduling and Dispatch were aware of the crew they were sending.Regardless if we were qualified or not for this flight; in the future; all the parties should be more aware of this kind of situation. Especially; Scheduling/Dispatch who are the ones selecting the crew for the flights.
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Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.