Crj-200 first officer reports an aircraft refusal for an inoperative windscreen wiper. The crew is c...

Narrative:

[This report concerns] a flight with an inoperative windscreen wiper. Captain and I both agreed the flight could not be flown safely due to weather in the destination area reported as a temporary probability of rain showers. The dispatcher and maintenance was notified and minutes later a chief pilot appeared at the aircraft and questioned our decision about operating the flight. The chief pilot then stated that the only visibility concerns associated with a broken windscreen wiper would be limited visibility during ground operations and we would just have to operate with more caution. I questioned the limited visibility during an instrument approach and landing and identifying the runway environment. The chief pilot stated that in his experience rain during landing has never created a visibility issue and the captain would have to fly both legs of the trip since the first officer's side wiper was inoperative. After continuing to state our concerns and the chief pilot not budging on the visibility not being a factor in the rain; the captain and I agreed with the chief pilot to take the flight. The threat was forward visibility in the rain showers due to the inoperative wiper. The error made was giving in to the pressure put on the captain and me by maintenance and the chief pilot; after initially refusing the aircraft due to safety concerns. The flight was conducted without any known deviations.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: CRJ-200 First Officer reports an aircraft refusal for an inoperative windscreen wiper. The crew is chastised by a Chief Pilot and eventually the crew agrees to accept the aircraft with the First Officer's wiper on MEL.

Narrative: [This report concerns] a flight with an inoperative windscreen wiper. Captain and I both agreed the flight could not be flown safely due to weather in the destination area reported as a temporary probability of rain showers. The Dispatcher and Maintenance was notified and minutes later a Chief pilot appeared at the aircraft and questioned our decision about operating the flight. The Chief Pilot then stated that the only visibility concerns associated with a broken windscreen wiper would be limited visibility during ground operations and we would just have to operate with more caution. I questioned the limited visibility during an instrument approach and landing and identifying the runway environment. The Chief Pilot stated that in his experience rain during landing has never created a visibility issue and the Captain would have to fly both legs of the trip since the First Officer's side wiper was inoperative. After continuing to state our concerns and the Chief Pilot not budging on the visibility not being a factor in the rain; the Captain and I agreed with the Chief Pilot to take the flight. The threat was forward visibility in the rain showers due to the inoperative wiper. The error made was giving in to the pressure put on the Captain and me by Maintenance and the Chief Pilot; after initially refusing the aircraft due to safety concerns. The flight was conducted without any known deviations.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

Attributes
ACN	1093649
Time
Date	201306
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Regional Jet 200 ER/LR (CRJ200)
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Windshield Wiper System
Person 1
Function	First Officer Pilot Not Flying
Events
Anomaly	No Specific Anomaly Occurred All Types

Crj-200 first officer reports an aircraft refusal for an inoperative windscreen wiper. The crew is chastised by a chief pilot and eventually the crew agrees to accept the aircraft with the first officer's wiper on MEL.