A B747-400 flight crew experienced a stabilizer greenband EICAS message on takeoff roll. They aborte...

Narrative:

Stab greenband EICAS message and system being inappropriately ignored. As we began the takeoff roll; the stabilizer greenband EICAS message illuminated. We aborted the takeoff at low speed and ran the irregular procedure. Adding 4% mac did not cure the problem so we called maintenance through dispatch as directed by the procedure. They immediately deferred the system. I am concerned that the company procedure is to automatically defer this warning system without any further troubleshooting. We might as well not have the stabilizer greenband system because we always ignore it by deferring it when it alerts. There are documented cases on other airlines where the system was alerting for a real out of balance condition. Fortunately; the flight crew recognized a real weight and balance problem and it was corrected. Here; we just ignore the warning; defer the warning system; and press on. I am concerned that it is possible for a serious out of trim/balance condition could go unaddressed by our simply deferring the warning system every time it alerts. I would suggest that load planning; dispatch; the flight crew; and maintenance be required to confer each time this system alerts an out of balance condition to be absolutely certain that we are not departing with an improperly loaded airplane or with erroneous data provided by load planning. Our current system does not provide for these protections.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B747-400 flight crew experienced a STAB GREENBAND EICAS message on takeoff roll. They aborted and company deferred the system. Reporter expressed concern that this is an inappropriate action and that ignoring the EICAS message could lead to safety consequences.

Narrative: Stab Greenband EICAS Message and system being inappropriately ignored. As we began the takeoff roll; the STAB GREENBAND EICAS message illuminated. We aborted the takeoff at low speed and ran the irregular procedure. Adding 4% MAC did not cure the problem so we called Maintenance through Dispatch as directed by the procedure. They immediately deferred the system. I am concerned that the company procedure is to automatically defer this warning system without any further troubleshooting. We might as well not have the STAB GREENBAND system because we always ignore it by deferring it when it alerts. There are documented cases on other airlines where the system was alerting for a real out of balance condition. Fortunately; the flight crew recognized a real weight and balance problem and it was corrected. Here; we just ignore the warning; defer the warning system; and press on. I am concerned that it is possible for a serious out of trim/balance condition could go unaddressed by our simply deferring the warning system every time it alerts. I would suggest that load planning; dispatch; the flight crew; and maintenance be required to confer each time this system alerts an out of balance condition to be absolutely certain that we are not departing with an improperly loaded airplane or with erroneous data provided by load planning. Our current system does not provide for these protections.

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.

Attributes
ACN	845406
Time
Date	200907
Local Time Of Day	0001-0600
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZZ.Airport
State Reference	FO
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B747-400
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Takeoff
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Safety Instrumentation & Information
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Not Flying
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 240 Flight Crew Total 16000 Flight Crew Type 3000
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe Deviation - Procedural Weight And Balance

A B747-400 flight crew experienced a stabilizer greenband EICAS message on takeoff roll. They aborted and company deferred the system. Reporter expressed concern that this is an inappropriate action and that ignoring the EICAS message could lead to safety consequences.