A B737-700 first officer reported departing on a flight with a mechanical issue that had been improp...

Narrative:

We had a maintenance discrepancy at the gate involving the emergency brake system. Maintenance said that the system was normal after consulting with their manual. Even though the discrepancy was signed off and we were legal to depart; our system knowledge made us feel that a problem still existed. When we arrived at our destination the captain advised the new crew of our write-up. They contacted maintenance for a consultation and it was subsequently determined that a problem did in fact exist and remedial action was taken. Even though we were in doubt about the initial maintenance determination; we trusted their interpretation of their manual and the sign-off of the discrepancy. The possibility certainly existed that there was something we didn't fully understand that their manual covered. Additionally; we were aware that some pilots had been disciplined by the company regarding write-ups; which the company felt were frivolous. I personally think that this could have been in the back of our minds since we had already taken a delay and going against maintenance and investigating further would have significantly increased the delay and; if we were wrong; subjected us to possibly the same fate.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B737-700 First Officer reported departing on a flight with a mechanical issue that had been improperly documented by maintenance.

Narrative: We had a maintenance discrepancy at the gate involving the emergency brake system. Maintenance said that the system was normal after consulting with their manual. Even though the discrepancy was signed off and we were legal to depart; our system knowledge made us feel that a problem still existed. When we arrived at our destination the Captain advised the new crew of our write-up. They contacted maintenance for a consultation and it was subsequently determined that a problem did in fact exist and remedial action was taken. Even though we were in doubt about the initial maintenance determination; we trusted their interpretation of their manual and the sign-off of the discrepancy. The possibility certainly existed that there was something we didn't fully understand that their manual covered. Additionally; we were aware that some pilots had been disciplined by the company regarding write-ups; which the company felt were frivolous. I personally think that this could have been in the back of our minds since we had already taken a delay and going against maintenance and investigating further would have significantly increased the delay and; if we were wrong; subjected us to possibly the same fate.

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	851801
Time
Date	200909
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B737-700
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Parked Takeoff
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Emergency Brake System
Person 1
Function	First Officer Pilot Not Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe Deviation - Procedural MEL Deviation - Procedural Maintenance

A B737-700 first officer reported departing on a flight with a mechanical issue that had been improperly documented by maintenance.