Narrative:

It was the first flight of the day for the flight crew. The aircraft had two MEL's: 29-11-03 hydraulic heat exchgr cool fan & 29-32-01 EICAS hydraulic reservoir qty. During the preflight duties/boarding process; we noticed that the circuit breaker on panel 1; row a; number 8 was pulled and not collared. Since this circuit breaker was associated with the hydraulic cooling fan; we double checked MEL 29-11-03. The MEL did not say anything about pulling circuit breakers; so we called maintenance control to see if we were reading it incorrectly. At xa:30 the captain talked to maintenance control and learned that the mechanics had intentionally left the circuit breaker out and we were to do the same. Since this was not part of the MEL; the captain and I felt that we needed further clarification from flight management on this matter. At xa:35; the captain talked with regional chief pilot about the situation. He said that this was permissible and the flight proceeded without any problems. Later on I began thinking about what occurred with aircraft that day; and realized that as a flight crew; we may have made a mistake. According to page 27 of the 'normal procedures' section of the cl-65 (crj-200) flight crew manual; 'all breakers not in (closed) should be collared.' clearly the flight operated in a matter that went against this policy in the fcm. This occurrence was a classic case of trying to get our customers to their destination on time; and failing to recognize the airline's desire to get the flight crew to deviate from the FAA approved manuals in order to protect completion factor/on-time performance. Although we took time to bring this to the attention of flight management; I'm afraid we still operated against approved policy. I've learned that no matter what the situation is; and regardless of who you have spoken with at the company; it is still the flight crew's responsibility to ensure that the aircraft is airworthy; and operated in compliance with approved manuals. Because of this event; I'm better prepared to deal with similar situations and now know that it is necessary to stand your ground when you feel like something isn't quite right. I have learned that I will never be pressured by management to do anything that falls outside the guidelines of our manuals ever again; and because of this; the passengers and equipment that I fly will be even safer.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A CRJ200 crew flew an aircraft with a popped hydraulic cooling fan circuit breaker which maintenance did not collar and made no attempt to fix prior to flight.

Narrative: It was the first flight of the day for the flight crew. The aircraft had two MEL's: 29-11-03 HYD HEAT EXCHGR COOL FAN & 29-32-01 EICAS HYD RESERVOIR QTY. During the preflight duties/boarding process; we noticed that the circuit breaker on panel 1; row A; number 8 was pulled and NOT collared. Since this circuit breaker was associated with the hydraulic cooling fan; we double checked MEL 29-11-03. The MEL did not say anything about pulling circuit breakers; so we called Maintenance Control to see if we were reading it incorrectly. At XA:30 the Captain talked to Maintenance Control and learned that the mechanics had intentionally left the circuit breaker out and we were to do the same. Since this was not part of the MEL; the Captain and I felt that we needed further clarification from Flight Management on this matter. At XA:35; the Captain talked with Regional Chief Pilot about the situation. He said that this was permissible and the flight proceeded without any problems. Later on I began thinking about what occurred with aircraft that day; and realized that as a flight crew; we may have made a mistake. According to page 27 of the 'Normal Procedures' section of the CL-65 (CRJ-200) Flight Crew Manual; 'All breakers not in (closed) should be collared.' Clearly the flight operated in a matter that went against this policy in the FCM. This occurrence was a classic case of trying to get our customers to their destination on time; and failing to recognize the airline's desire to get the flight crew to deviate from the FAA approved manuals in order to protect completion factor/on-time performance. Although we took time to bring this to the attention of Flight Management; I'm afraid we still operated against approved policy. I've learned that no matter what the situation is; and regardless of who you have spoken with at the company; it is still the flight crew's responsibility to ensure that the aircraft is airworthy; and operated in compliance with approved manuals. Because of this event; I'm better prepared to deal with similar situations and now know that it is necessary to stand your ground when you feel like something isn't quite right. I have learned that I WILL NEVER BE PRESSURED BY MANAGEMENT TO DO ANYTHING THAT FALLS OUTSIDE THE GUIDELINES OF OUR MANUALS EVER AGAIN; and because of this; the passengers and equipment that I fly will be even safer.

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.