Narrative:

I reported for the continuation of an international flight to ZZZ. I had refused the aircraft the previous evening for an inoperative door slide arming lever and improper alignment of the girt bar engaged flags on the same door. Upon reviewing the log history I discovered one of my log entries missing. That log entry was my entry for the arming lever and it included my statement 'aircraft refused' and my name and employee number. This entry was deleted by maintenance and I was informed through maintenance control by the B777 controller that this was a new policy from 'above.' it was to 'ensure an independent analysis and decision by outbound captains preventing undue influence over their decision of an aircraft's airworthiness.' removal of maintenance log entries by anyone is a violation of far's. However; line maintenance had no problem bringing me a report to read that showed me where other flights had operated with this mechanism deferred including the previous domestic segment on this aircraft. This event makes me question the validity of the release and the log history and their ability to fully inform me about an aircraft's airworthiness. This 'policy' needs to be reversed and is in conflict with our manuals.callback conversation with reporter revealed the following info: reporter stated he is very concerned about the removal of part of his log entry that stated 'aircraft refused;' which was included in his log entry for the slide arming lever discrepancy. Reporter stated if maintenance control has been given a 'policy' directive to remove a pilot's 'aircraft refused' entry from the log record; then what other types of maintenance or aircraft status entries inputted by pilots; involving the aircraft's airworthiness have been; or may be subject to; removal from the log records. Reporter stated the issue of the main cabin door slide/raft arming lever and the improper alignment of the girt bar engaged flags is an ongoing problem with their B777-200's. Water is intruding into the internal door mechanism and freezing the arm/disarm cable. This prevents movement of the arm/disarm lever. Freezing causes the cable to stretch; making the arming/disarming lever movement more difficult. The door open/close handle is also affected by the water intrusion; which freezes; preventing movement of the door handle. Reporter stated the issue is not just blocking off a row of seats because one cabin door is frozen and unusable. If the aircraft is dispatched with one door blocked off because of frozen door mechanisms; other doors may also freeze. The issue is the water intrusion into the door freezing; can affect any one of the cabin doors and prevent emergency egress. Reporter emphasize no one can be sure what door; or doors will operate under this type of maintenance issue. Reporter questions what happens if outside emergency medical or fire rescue try to open a cabin door and the door slide/raft arming lever cannot be disarmed? Reporter has seen water streaming in over the top of the slide/raft bustle cover with the door closed during rainy weather while at the gate.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Captain reports he noticed his statement of 'aircraft refused' had been deleted from the rest of the electronic maintenance log entry he made for a B777-200 inoperative door slide arming lever and improper alignment of the girt bar engaged flags on the same door.

Narrative: I reported for the continuation of an international flight to ZZZ. I had refused the aircraft the previous evening for an inoperative door slide arming lever and improper alignment of the girt bar engaged flags on the same door. Upon reviewing the Log History I discovered one of my log entries missing. That log entry was my entry for the arming lever and it included my statement 'aircraft refused' and my name and employee number. This entry was deleted by maintenance and I was informed through maintenance control by the B777 controller that this was a new policy from 'above.' It was to 'ensure an independent analysis and decision by outbound Captains preventing undue influence over their decision of an aircraft's airworthiness.' Removal of maintenance log entries by anyone is a violation of FAR's. However; line maintenance had no problem bringing me a report to read that showed me where other flights had operated with this mechanism deferred including the previous domestic segment on this aircraft. This event makes me question the validity of the release and the Log History and their ability to fully inform me about an aircraft's airworthiness. This 'policy' needs to be reversed and is in conflict with our manuals.Callback conversation with reporter revealed the following info: Reporter stated he is very concerned about the removal of part of his log entry that stated 'aircraft refused;' which was included in his log entry for the slide arming lever discrepancy. Reporter stated if Maintenance Control has been given a 'policy' directive to remove a pilot's 'aircraft refused' entry from the log record; then what other types of maintenance or aircraft status entries inputted by pilots; involving the aircraft's airworthiness have been; or may be subject to; removal from the log records. Reporter stated the issue of the main cabin door slide/raft arming lever and the improper alignment of the girt bar engaged flags is an ongoing problem with their B777-200's. Water is intruding into the internal door mechanism and freezing the arm/disarm cable. This prevents movement of the arm/disarm lever. Freezing causes the cable to stretch; making the arming/disarming lever movement more difficult. The door open/close handle is also affected by the water intrusion; which freezes; preventing movement of the door handle. Reporter stated the issue is not just blocking off a row of seats because one cabin door is frozen and unusable. If the aircraft is dispatched with one door blocked off because of frozen door mechanisms; other doors may also freeze. The issue is the water intrusion into the door freezing; can affect any one of the cabin doors and prevent emergency egress. Reporter emphasize no one can be sure what door; or doors will operate under this type of maintenance issue. Reporter questions what happens if outside emergency medical or fire rescue try to open a cabin door and the door slide/raft arming lever cannot be disarmed? Reporter has seen water streaming in over the top of the slide/raft bustle cover with the door closed during rainy weather while at the gate.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.