Narrative:

A PIC called maintenance with two issues. The connection was not very good. He started out with wanting to know if his #1 heading bug could be deferred and his #2 IRS panel was flashing 'on batt.' it took me a few minutes to find my citation X cockpit chart so I could see what he was seeing. The first item I went after was the IRS and asked him to switch his #2 norm/emer bus switch to emergency for 30 seconds then switch it back. At that time he explained it was no longer flashing and he was good to go with that issue. We then discussed his heading bug and the fact that the left heading knob on the pedestal was not working. I started looking through the MEL and found nothing so I discussed the issue with an assistant chief pilot (acp) and he found nothing either. I returned to my call with the PIC and explained to the we found no relief for the heading knob. He again brought up the #2 IRS on batt flashing at which time I told him to send in the squawks as aog items and we would get maintenance to work it. It was only at this time the PIC asked 'you know we're in flight; don't you?' I told him 'no'; if I had I could only tell you to follow your checklist and are supposed to contact your acp for inflight issues. I then entered a tracking stating that the aircraft will aog when it arrives at destination. I do not believe the PIC switched his #2 bus from norm to emergency and back; but by not explaining to me he was calling from inflight he put me (and himself) in an unacceptable/dangerous situation. The PIC should have followed his fom; ch. 3 non-normal. Suggestions: the PIC did not follow his fom. Crews need more training on procedures and need to follow them. Why is a crewmember calling maintenance in flight asking if an item can be deferred?

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A Technician reported a CE-750 pilot called while inflight about a Navigation System malfunction; which should have been handled by his Chief Pilot.

Narrative: A PIC called Maintenance with two issues. The connection was not very good. He started out with wanting to know if his #1 heading bug could be deferred and his #2 IRS panel was flashing 'ON BATT.' It took me a few minutes to find my Citation X cockpit chart so I could see what he was seeing. The first item I went after was the IRS and asked him to switch his #2 Norm/Emer bus switch to EMER for 30 seconds then switch it back. At that time he explained it was no longer flashing and he was good to go with that issue. We then discussed his heading bug and the fact that the left heading knob on the pedestal was not working. I started looking through the MEL and found nothing so I discussed the issue with an Assistant Chief Pilot (ACP) and he found nothing either. I returned to my call with the PIC and explained to the we found no relief for the heading knob. He again brought up the #2 IRS ON BATT flashing at which time I told him to send in the squawks as AOG items and we would get maintenance to work it. It was only at this time the PIC asked 'you know we're in flight; don't you?' I told him 'NO'; if I had I could only tell you to follow your checklist and are supposed to contact your ACP for inflight issues. I then entered a tracking stating that the aircraft will AOG when it arrives at destination. I do not believe the PIC switched his #2 bus from NORM to EMER and Back; but by not explaining to me he was calling from inflight he put me (and himself) in an unacceptable/dangerous situation. The PIC should have followed his FOM; CH. 3 Non-Normal. Suggestions: The PIC did not follow his FOM. Crews need more training on procedures and need to follow them. Why is a crewmember calling Maintenance in flight asking if an item can be deferred?

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site 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.