Narrative:

We were sent to do a recovery flight. Inbound to dtw we discovered that the rudder trim was inoperative. Prior to arrival; I looked up the rudder trim; and to my surprise it was MEL 27-11; which gives no operating limitations in terms of the types of flights which may be conducted. I could not contact the company because the in-flight phone is useless; and there wasn't time to reach out via HF patch or afis. On landing; I went ahead and submitted the MEL per company procedure; received the deferral documentation; completed the paper work and prepared to carry on with the passenger leg.about another 45 minutes passed while we were completing customs; fueling; passenger passport checks and so on. I consulted with my crew; and it looked like we were ready to proceed. I went inside to the FBO and rounded up our passengers. Just as we were heading out to the airplane; I received a call from maintenance control. A person; who I believe might have been [name] started saying something was wrong with the MEL I had submitted. I asked the passengers to wait just another minute; as there seemed to be a last minute complication.finding a quiet place; I asked him to start over. He explained that the MEL was valid; but 'did I know that we couldn't fly passengers with it?' I said; 'no; I really confused; I didn't see anything that indicates that we aren't ok to fly this way.' he went on to explain that; 'this was due to an internal list; and that the list prohibits us operating the aircraft with passengers with this MEL.' I was really stunned by this; and I asked how I was supposed to know? He said; 'you couldn't because it's an internal document.' then things got ugly.at this point he says; 'I don't know what you want to do about it; but scheduling is having an aneurysm.' the way he said it; I felt it was a clear hint that I should recant my write up because scheduling was angry. I felt very threatened; embarrassed and angry. Not to mention the timing. Another 5 minutes; I would have been loaded and shutting off my iphone. I replied; 'we I think I may have one too; but it's definitely broke; so if you are certain about the paperwork; then I guess we are stuck.' it was certainly the right call; but I was worried that perhaps the problem was merely a glitch that could be solved by a system reset; and that there would be reprisals from the company. I was actually relieved when the maintenance line reported that there was a bad actuator. It's really sad when you are relieved that the airplane is actually sick.Suggestions1)revise the MEL to reflect the true and accurate limitations the company has imposed.2) restore adequate staffing and change the procedures so that we can consult with maintenance control prior to any write up; the way it used to be.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: DA-2000 Captain reported feeling pressure from his company to fly an aircraft with a rudder trim problem.

Narrative: We were sent to do a recovery flight. Inbound to DTW we discovered that the Rudder trim was inoperative. Prior to arrival; I looked up the Rudder trim; and to my surprise it was MEL 27-11; which gives no operating limitations in terms of the TYPES of flights which may be conducted. I could not contact the company because the in-flight phone is useless; and there wasn't time to reach out via HF patch or AFIS. On landing; I went ahead and submitted the MEL per company procedure; received the deferral documentation; completed the paper work and prepared to carry on with the passenger leg.About another 45 minutes passed while we were completing customs; fueling; passenger passport checks and so on. I consulted with my crew; and it looked like we were ready to proceed. I went inside to the FBO and rounded up our passengers. Just as we were heading out to the airplane; I received a call from Maintenance Control. A person; who I believe might have been [name] started saying something was wrong with the MEL I had submitted. I asked the passengers to wait just another minute; as there seemed to be a last minute complication.Finding a quiet place; I asked him to start over. He explained that the MEL was valid; but 'did I know that we couldn't fly passengers with it?' I said; 'No; I really confused; I didn't see ANYTHING that indicates that we aren't OK to fly this way.' He went on to explain that; 'this was due to an internal list; and that the list prohibits us operating the aircraft with passengers with this MEL.' I was really stunned by this; and I asked How I was supposed to know? He said; 'You couldn't because it's an internal document.' Then things got UGLY.At this point he says; 'I don't know what you want to do about it; but scheduling is having an aneurysm.' The way he said it; I felt it was a clear hint that I should recant my write up because scheduling was angry. I felt very threatened; embarrassed and angry. Not to mention the timing. Another 5 minutes; I would have been loaded and shutting off my iPhone. I replied; 'We I think I may have one too; but it's definitely broke; so if you are certain about the paperwork; then I guess we are stuck.' It was certainly the right call; but I was worried that perhaps the problem was merely a glitch that could be solved by a system reset; and that there would be reprisals from the company. I was actually relieved when the maintenance line reported that there was a bad actuator. It's really sad when you are relieved that the airplane is actually sick.Suggestions1)Revise the MEL to reflect the true and accurate limitations the company has imposed.2) Restore adequate staffing and change the procedures so that we can consult with Maintenance Control prior to any write up; the way it used to be.

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.