Narrative:

While flight planning the first officer and I reviewed the aircraft maintenance history. We observed two recent write-ups involving air wing bleed leak warning. Maintenance action both times stated the warning was reset; and the warning went away. The first officer and I were both concerned that troubleshooting was not attempted for either an actual bleed air leak; or a faulty warning system for a wing bleed air leak. Bleed air leaks in the wing can be a serious defect. I telephoned dispatch to submit a captain's refusal for the aircraft. Dispatch arranged a phone consultation between me and a maintenance representative; to further explain to me that there was currently no defect or deferral on the aircraft; so no maintenance was warranted. I stated our concerns about the unexplained air wing bleed leak indications. A flight operations representative telephoned me to inquire as to my concerns and ask what support he might be able to provide. I requested either a leak check on the aircraft; or to assign a different aircraft for the flight. The flight operations representative telephoned me again after gathering more information; explaining that no further maintenance would be performed; and asked me to reconsider my decision to refuse the aircraft. I declined. The assistant chief pilot then called my first officer to gather information. The assistant chief pilot then called me. He explained to me that an off-line mechanic reset the fault; and ran the #2 engine at idle; and no warning occurred. The assistant chief pilot attempted to persuade me to fly the aircraft. I respectfully declined. Over the course of a couple of hours; the flight was canceled; and then reinstated with a different aircraft; and the flight was completed successfully. In reviewing this incident; I feel that all company procedures were followed regarding the aircraft refusal policy in our fom; communication was good; CRM applied; and a safe decision was made.I do however have three concerns: 1) a degradation of aircraft maintenance occurring at our airline.2) pressure was applied to me by flight operations to fly an aircraft that I felt was not safe. 3) priority is given to getting flights out rather than accomplishing proper maintenance.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A320 Captain reports refusing an aircraft for repeated AIR WING BLEED LEAK warnings. Corrective action by Maintenance was to reset the warning system which was not acceptablee to the reporter.

Narrative: While flight planning the First Officer and I reviewed the aircraft maintenance history. We observed two recent write-ups involving AIR WING BLEED LEAK warning. Maintenance action both times stated the warning was reset; and the warning went away. The First Officer and I were both concerned that troubleshooting was not attempted for either an actual bleed air leak; or a faulty warning system for a wing bleed air leak. Bleed air leaks in the wing can be a serious defect. I telephoned Dispatch to submit a Captain's refusal for the aircraft. Dispatch arranged a phone consultation between me and a Maintenance Representative; to further explain to me that there was currently no defect or deferral on the aircraft; so no maintenance was warranted. I stated our concerns about the unexplained air wing bleed leak indications. A Flight Operations Representative telephoned me to inquire as to my concerns and ask what support he might be able to provide. I requested either a leak check on the aircraft; or to assign a different aircraft for the flight. The Flight Operations Representative telephoned me again after gathering more information; explaining that no further maintenance would be performed; and asked me to reconsider my decision to refuse the aircraft. I declined. The Assistant Chief Pilot then called my First Officer to gather information. The Assistant Chief Pilot then called me. He explained to me that an off-line Mechanic reset the fault; and ran the #2 engine at idle; and no warning occurred. The Assistant Chief Pilot attempted to persuade me to fly the aircraft. I respectfully declined. Over the course of a couple of hours; the flight was canceled; and then reinstated with a different aircraft; and the flight was completed successfully. In reviewing this incident; I feel that all company procedures were followed regarding the aircraft refusal policy in our FOM; communication was good; CRM applied; and a safe decision was made.I do however have three concerns: 1) A degradation of aircraft maintenance occurring at our airline.2) Pressure was applied to me by Flight Operations to fly an aircraft that I felt was not safe. 3) Priority is given to getting flights out rather than accomplishing proper maintenance.

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.