Narrative:

Myself and another mechanic went on a road trip to ZZZ for an emb-145 aircraft lightning strike. That day and evening; we performed a lightning strike inspection and moved the aircraft to a contract maintenance ramp in front of a hangar. The left aileron had been struck by lightning and maintenance operations wanted to ferry it to ZZZ1. The damage was outside the structural repair limits (srm) manual limitations and we were instructed to map it; which we did. The mapping went to engineering. The person at engineering tried unsuccessfully to convince us that it was within limits. The limit was 72 square inches and we had 78. So emb technical services was contacted by our engineering and the outcome was a letter with inspection criteria and the limitations for a ferry from ZZZ to ZZZ1. At this time; I understand the letter should have been in the form of an engineering order. After performing the inspection outlined in the letter; I felt we could safely ferry the aircraft to ZZZ1. By the next morning; the aircraft was signed off and ready to fly to ZZZ1 under the ferry permit. After the pilots showed up and performed their pre-flight duties; and we were on our way out to leave; I was contacted by maintenance operations and told not to let the pilots have the logbook. The reason being they wanted to ferry it to ZZZ2. I told them to fax me the paperwork and that would be ok. The only paperwork I received was the ferry permit. Next; I contacted maintenance operations and told them that I needed a revised letter for the ZZZ2 flight; since the limitations were from ZZZ to ZZZ1. The next call I had was from maintenance operations; they informed me that they needed the damage further mapped; we said ok. Shortly thereafter; I had gotten a call from the base manager; mr. X. He said we don't need a letter to ferry the aircraft and we are going to ferry it to ZZZ2 without one. I told mr. X we had a letter and we had performed maintenance as per the letter. Mr. X said we don't need a letter and that we are going to ferry the aircraft without it and that all we needed to ferry the aircraft was the general procedures manual (gpm). Once again; I said we found the damage out of limits in the srm and had the letter. At that point; mr. X insisted that all we needed was the gpm to ferry the aircraft and that we don't need to follow the amm or the srm; or the engineering order; or anything except the gpm. I felt at that point; I was being pressured by management to sign off the aircraft to ZZZ2. I finally told base manager mr. X I don't feel comfortable signing off this aircraft without the letter and that was the end of our conversation. Next I got a call from maintenance operations mr. Y; and the conversation was similar. Mr. Y eventually told me that he and the director of quality control (dqc) are authorizing me to sign off the aircraft to ZZZ2. The conversation was less hostile than with the base manager; but ended with me asking to speak with the dqc; fully expecting the next call to be a three way with the dqc and mr. Y. Instead; it was just mr. Y and he said it's going to ZZZ1. After we arrived at ZZZ1; I was sent home pending investigation for 2 weeks. I feel that I was pressured by management to do something illegal; since you can't undo maintenance performed and documented. The event occurred because of managements' lack of knowledge and maintenance operations changing the destination and subsequently refusal of a revised letter. My job was threatened.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: While preparing an EMB-145 for a ferry flight due to lightning strike damage on the left aileron that exceeded the structural repair manual (SRM) limitations; a Mechanic reported being pressured to deviate from the original ferry permit and Engineering Order approved flight route and release the aircraft for flight to a different airport; without written authorization.

Narrative: Myself and another Mechanic went on a road trip to ZZZ for an EMB-145 aircraft lightning strike. That day and evening; we performed a lightning strike inspection and moved the aircraft to a Contract Maintenance ramp in front of a hangar. The left aileron had been struck by lightning and Maintenance Operations wanted to ferry it to ZZZ1. The damage was outside the structural repair limits (SRM) manual limitations and we were instructed to map it; which we did. The mapping went to Engineering. The person at Engineering tried unsuccessfully to convince us that it was within limits. The limit was 72 square inches and we had 78. So EMB Technical Services was contacted by our Engineering and the outcome was a letter with inspection criteria and the limitations for a ferry from ZZZ to ZZZ1. At this time; I understand the letter should have been in the form of an Engineering Order. After performing the inspection outlined in the letter; I felt we could safely ferry the aircraft to ZZZ1. By the next morning; the aircraft was signed off and ready to fly to ZZZ1 under the ferry permit. After the pilots showed up and performed their pre-flight duties; and we were on our way out to leave; I was contacted by Maintenance Operations and told not to let the pilots have the logbook. The reason being they wanted to ferry it to ZZZ2. I told them to fax me the paperwork and that would be OK. The only paperwork I received was the ferry permit. Next; I contacted Maintenance Operations and told them that I needed a revised letter for the ZZZ2 flight; since the limitations were from ZZZ to ZZZ1. The next call I had was from Maintenance Operations; they informed me that they needed the damage further mapped; we said OK. Shortly thereafter; I had gotten a call from the Base Manager; Mr. X. He said we don't need a letter to ferry the aircraft and we are going to ferry it to ZZZ2 without one. I told Mr. X we had a letter and we had performed maintenance as per the letter. Mr. X said we don't need a letter and that we are going to ferry the aircraft without it and that all we needed to ferry the aircraft was the general procedures manual (GPM). Once again; I said we found the damage out of limits in the SRM and had the letter. At that point; Mr. X insisted that all we needed was the GPM to ferry the aircraft and that we don't need to follow the AMM or the SRM; or the Engineering Order; or anything except the GPM. I felt at that point; I was being pressured by Management to sign off the aircraft to ZZZ2. I finally told Base Manager Mr. X I don't feel comfortable signing off this aircraft without the letter and that was the end of our conversation. Next I got a call from Maintenance Operations Mr. Y; and the conversation was similar. Mr. Y eventually told me that he and the Director of Quality Control (DQC) are authorizing me to sign off the aircraft to ZZZ2. The conversation was less hostile than with the Base Manager; but ended with me asking to speak with the DQC; fully expecting the next call to be a three way with the DQC and Mr. Y. Instead; it was just Mr. Y and he said it's going to ZZZ1. After we arrived at ZZZ1; I was sent home pending investigation for 2 weeks. I feel that I was pressured by Management to do something illegal; since you can't undo maintenance performed and documented. The event occurred because of Managements' lack of knowledge and Maintenance Operations changing the destination and subsequently refusal of a revised letter. My job was threatened.

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.