Narrative:

On apr/xa/01, scheduling called my house to schedule me for a trip. I was to deadhead to seattle and ferry a plane back to phx. When I arrived in seattle, I called dispatch. They informed me that this was merely a position ferry. After further inquiry, I learned that this aircraft had a maintenance problem earlier in the day. Maintenance had been flown in and fixed the plane and now it needed to be position and ferried to phx. Earlier that day, the captain had run the thrust levers up for takeoff and the #1 engine remained in idle. It did not respond to any thrust lever input. Maintenance could not reproduce the problem, but cleaned some cannon plugs and signed the problem fixed. My first officer and I started our ferry normally. While we were taxiing out to takeoff, I decided to test the engine to ensure that it would respond. The same as before, the #1 engine remained in idle regardless of the thrust lever position. We returned to the gate, intending to abort the flight. We shut the plane down and I walked into operations. As I returned to operations, the operations supervisor asked me to call ZZZ maintenance. I called. Maintenance explained to me that there was nothing wrong with the plane or the engine. He said this was an old plane and an old engine and had a history of this. The actual explanation of what was happening escapes me right now, but made sense at the time. He said that if we would just turn the bleed off for takeoff, everything would be normal. He was quite sure that nothing was wrong. He asked me to just go start the engine again and try turning the bleed off. If that worked, there was nothing wrong. I was skeptical, but agreed to start the engine anyway. We started the engine and it did not respond in the normal confign. We turned the bleed off and it worked normally, exactly as he had explained. There were no passenger on board. The engine looked normal. Maintenance had assured me it was normal. I decided to go. In order to make things more normal, we turned the #1 engine bleed off, closed the isolation valve and ran the left pack off of the APU. Once airborne, we reconfigured the packs and bleeds normally and the flight to phx was uneventful. Since we had taxied and returned to the gate, I wrote an irregularity report. I turned it in and went on vacation. When I returned from vacation, I found my irregularity report in my box with a note attached saying that more explanation was needed. I went in to see a supervisor. He advised me to do a report and said he would investigate the incident. Supplemental information from acn 509280: we started engine and turned off bleed on affected side and engine spooled normally. Captain said 'get push clearance and let's go.' I immediately switched from troubleshooting type guy to line pilot type guy, and got a push clearance. Upon our arrival in phx, maintenance was surprised to find aircraft arrived with no heads-up on problem. To summarize: we should have written aircraft up in sea after we returned to gate. Then let maintenance and dispatch coordinate action. From my understanding, dispatch was never notified. After we returned to gate, captain grabbed logbook and went to talk to maintenance. I assumed he was coordinating plan for test run and ferry. I did not realize that we had done something wrong until we arrived in phx and found phx maintenance totally surprised to find out about problem and then I had sinking feeling that perhaps I would be talking to chief pilot in near future.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B737 FERRY FLC ACCEPTS AND FLIES AN ACFT THAT HAS A THROTTLE ENG PWR BLEED AIR RELATIONSHIP PROB AT SEA, WA.

Narrative: ON APR/XA/01, SCHEDULING CALLED MY HOUSE TO SCHEDULE ME FOR A TRIP. I WAS TO DEADHEAD TO SEATTLE AND FERRY A PLANE BACK TO PHX. WHEN I ARRIVED IN SEATTLE, I CALLED DISPATCH. THEY INFORMED ME THAT THIS WAS MERELY A POS FERRY. AFTER FURTHER INQUIRY, I LEARNED THAT THIS ACFT HAD A MAINT PROB EARLIER IN THE DAY. MAINT HAD BEEN FLOWN IN AND FIXED THE PLANE AND NOW IT NEEDED TO BE POS AND FERRIED TO PHX. EARLIER THAT DAY, THE CAPT HAD RUN THE THRUST LEVERS UP FOR TKOF AND THE #1 ENG REMAINED IN IDLE. IT DID NOT RESPOND TO ANY THRUST LEVER INPUT. MAINT COULD NOT REPRODUCE THE PROB, BUT CLEANED SOME CANNON PLUGS AND SIGNED THE PROB FIXED. MY FO AND I STARTED OUR FERRY NORMALLY. WHILE WE WERE TAXIING OUT TO TKOF, I DECIDED TO TEST THE ENG TO ENSURE THAT IT WOULD RESPOND. THE SAME AS BEFORE, THE #1 ENG REMAINED IN IDLE REGARDLESS OF THE THRUST LEVER POS. WE RETURNED TO THE GATE, INTENDING TO ABORT THE FLT. WE SHUT THE PLANE DOWN AND I WALKED INTO OPS. AS I RETURNED TO OPS, THE OPS SUPVR ASKED ME TO CALL ZZZ MAINT. I CALLED. MAINT EXPLAINED TO ME THAT THERE WAS NOTHING WRONG WITH THE PLANE OR THE ENG. HE SAID THIS WAS AN OLD PLANE AND AN OLD ENG AND HAD A HISTORY OF THIS. THE ACTUAL EXPLANATION OF WHAT WAS HAPPENING ESCAPES ME RIGHT NOW, BUT MADE SENSE AT THE TIME. HE SAID THAT IF WE WOULD JUST TURN THE BLEED OFF FOR TKOF, EVERYTHING WOULD BE NORMAL. HE WAS QUITE SURE THAT NOTHING WAS WRONG. HE ASKED ME TO JUST GO START THE ENG AGAIN AND TRY TURNING THE BLEED OFF. IF THAT WORKED, THERE WAS NOTHING WRONG. I WAS SKEPTICAL, BUT AGREED TO START THE ENG ANYWAY. WE STARTED THE ENG AND IT DID NOT RESPOND IN THE NORMAL CONFIGN. WE TURNED THE BLEED OFF AND IT WORKED NORMALLY, EXACTLY AS HE HAD EXPLAINED. THERE WERE NO PAX ON BOARD. THE ENG LOOKED NORMAL. MAINT HAD ASSURED ME IT WAS NORMAL. I DECIDED TO GO. IN ORDER TO MAKE THINGS MORE NORMAL, WE TURNED THE #1 ENG BLEED OFF, CLOSED THE ISOLATION VALVE AND RAN THE L PACK OFF OF THE APU. ONCE AIRBORNE, WE RECONFIGURED THE PACKS AND BLEEDS NORMALLY AND THE FLT TO PHX WAS UNEVENTFUL. SINCE WE HAD TAXIED AND RETURNED TO THE GATE, I WROTE AN IRREGULARITY RPT. I TURNED IT IN AND WENT ON VACATION. WHEN I RETURNED FROM VACATION, I FOUND MY IRREGULARITY RPT IN MY BOX WITH A NOTE ATTACHED SAYING THAT MORE EXPLANATION WAS NEEDED. I WENT IN TO SEE A SUPVR. HE ADVISED ME TO DO A RPT AND SAID HE WOULD INVESTIGATE THE INCIDENT. SUPPLEMENTAL INFO FROM ACN 509280: WE STARTED ENG AND TURNED OFF BLEED ON AFFECTED SIDE AND ENG SPOOLED NORMALLY. CAPT SAID 'GET PUSH CLRNC AND LET'S GO.' I IMMEDIATELY SWITCHED FROM TROUBLESHOOTING TYPE GUY TO LINE PLT TYPE GUY, AND GOT A PUSH CLRNC. UPON OUR ARR IN PHX, MAINT WAS SURPRISED TO FIND ACFT ARRIVED WITH NO HEADS-UP ON PROB. TO SUMMARIZE: WE SHOULD HAVE WRITTEN ACFT UP IN SEA AFTER WE RETURNED TO GATE. THEN LET MAINT AND DISPATCH COORDINATE ACTION. FROM MY UNDERSTANDING, DISPATCH WAS NEVER NOTIFIED. AFTER WE RETURNED TO GATE, CAPT GRABBED LOGBOOK AND WENT TO TALK TO MAINT. I ASSUMED HE WAS COORDINATING PLAN FOR TEST RUN AND FERRY. I DID NOT REALIZE THAT WE HAD DONE SOMETHING WRONG UNTIL WE ARRIVED IN PHX AND FOUND PHX MAINT TOTALLY SURPRISED TO FIND OUT ABOUT PROB AND THEN I HAD SINKING FEELING THAT PERHAPS I WOULD BE TALKING TO CHIEF PLT IN NEAR FUTURE.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 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.