Narrative:

During our pre-flight in the flight planning room we noticed that our ofp (operational flight plan) had two MEL items that were deferred on our aircraft. The APU bleed valve was inoperable along with the right famv (fan air modulation valve) valve. After consulting with my crew and reviewing the [manual] we decided that the APU was deemed highly desirable to be in operable condition to maintain the proper level of safety for our operation. We were filed to fly on a sub polar route; not very desirable with the APU bleed being inoperable. I coordinated with dispatch and voiced our concerns and indicated that we would be refusing the aircraft in its current condition. I did not speak to [maintenance control] at this time but was planning to speak to line maintenance first at the aircraft. We could not board the aircraft at the gate as line maintenance was going to push back for an engine run-up for an idg (integrated drive generator) problem they were working on that we found out about later. While in the gate area our chief pilot approached us and wanted to know about the situation. He was cordial but asked me our reasoning for the refusal. He asked if I had coordinated with dispatch and [maintenance control] and reminded me that I would have to file an [operations report] explaining why we felt it was unsafe to accept this aircraft. Back in the flight planning room I initiated contact with dispatch and [maintenance] and relayed our concerns again. I was told that maintenance was working on the APU MEL item. A short time later I received a call from my dispatcher informing me that the APU bleed valve issue had been fixed and if we would accept the aircraft. After consulting with my flying partners we felt that we could accept this aircraft for our flight. We all felt subtle pressure to operate this flight with these systems deferred.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B777 Captain reported pressure to accept an aircraft with an inoperative APU that he had refused for an ETOPS flight.

Narrative: During our pre-flight in the flight planning room we noticed that our OFP (Operational Flight Plan) had two MEL items that were deferred on our aircraft. The APU bleed valve was inoperable along with the right FAMV (Fan Air Modulation Valve) valve. After consulting with my crew and reviewing the [manual] we decided that the APU was deemed highly desirable to be in operable condition to maintain the proper level of safety for our operation. We were filed to fly on a sub polar route; not very desirable with the APU bleed being inoperable. I coordinated with Dispatch and voiced our concerns and indicated that we would be refusing the aircraft in its current condition. I did not speak to [maintenance control] at this time but was planning to speak to line maintenance first at the aircraft. We could not board the aircraft at the gate as line maintenance was going to push back for an engine run-up for an IDG (Integrated Drive Generator) problem they were working on that we found out about later. While in the gate area our chief pilot approached us and wanted to know about the situation. He was cordial but asked me our reasoning for the refusal. He asked if I had coordinated with Dispatch and [maintenance control] and reminded me that I would have to file an [Operations Report] explaining why we felt it was unsafe to accept this aircraft. Back in the flight planning room I initiated contact with Dispatch and [maintenance] and relayed our concerns again. I was told that maintenance was working on the APU MEL item. A short time later I received a call from my dispatcher informing me that the APU bleed valve issue had been fixed and if we would accept the aircraft. After consulting with my flying partners we felt that we could accept this aircraft for our flight. We all felt subtle pressure to operate this flight with these systems 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.