A B757 flight crew refused an aircraft because of an oil leak and when the subsequent departure delay created a very long duty day they called in fatigued and were replaced.
Synopsis
A B757 flight crew refused an aircraft because of an oil leak and when the subsequent departure delay created a very long duty day they called in fatigued and were replaced.
Narrative
Report to duty mid afternoon. Engine oil leak; boarding delayed; delayed flight for mechanic's engine run up. I visually observed engine with cowling removed after engine idle run up. In spite of test being inconclusive in my opinion; the aircraft was returned to service. After conferring with several mechanics who also observed the idle run up; the aircraft was refused until a high power check could be performed to more accurately verify the condition of the unknown source oil leak. I; again visually observed the engine after high power check was made. 'Cowl full of oil after high power.' Next aircraft available for our flight still enroute. Proposed departure time sometime before midnight. That would put us into our destination near sun up; 6 1/2 hours late and just under one hour short of our allowed max duty time. Having gotten up at early that morning; I was not physically prepared to fly an all-nighter. Neither was the First Officer. And; after having to be so personally involved in the maintenance issue and subsequent aircraft refusal in order to avoid taking an engine with a 'cracked de-oiler housing' over water; I was now unable to nap before the flight and complete my trip safely. I called in 'fatigued.' So; you can either fly this broken; leaking aircraft; or you can prop yourself up to 4 in the morning; or you can call in fatigued and lose a month's mortgage payment. I don't believe that this is how a system based on 'Safety First' is really supposed to work. The new aircraft was re-crewed with short call reserves and left before midnight.
Second reporter narrative
The maintenance issues started when the plane arrived with a large oil leak on the left engine. An idle run showed no leaks; and Maintenance wanted to defer it. The Captain refused the aircraft unless a high power run showed no leaks as well. The high power run revealed the leaks and the airplane was taken out of service. They turned out to be a cracked De-oiler housing; a faulty gear box oil fill plug; and a leaking oil quantity transmitter. Kudos to the Captain for preventing a possible in flight shutdown and ETOPS diversion on an airplane that our Maintenance Organization thought was safe to operate over the largest body of water on the planet with no diversion airports. For that; we were rewarded with the loss of 10 plus hours of pay. Something is wrong with this system.
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Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.