Narrative:

My report addresses a safety concern regarding pressure from this air carrier's upper management for on time departures that is directly compromising safety. Earlier this month flying a 757 aircraft we departed with a hydraulic defect that was not repaired as cleared in our maintenance release. This was the first flight of the day for us and this aircraft had just arrived at the gate. At the gate I performed the exterior aircraft preflight inspection. As I exited the jet bridge door prior to walking down the steps I could see a large pool of fluid under the left main landing gear wheels. Inspected fluid and determined it was hydraulic fluid pooled on ground. Entire truck and the rear main brakes and wheels were saturated with hydraulic fluid. We verbally called in the defect and also wrote it up via ACARS. The aircraft had a recent prior write up for the same issue. Since the plane was late inbound it was now close to departure time. The write up and repair/sign off proceeded as follows: 1) after we sent the ACARS hydraulic write up; a few minutes later we received a new maintenance release clearing the problem; which struck me as very unusual to get a new maintenance release so quickly especially with a large hydraulic leak; we received a new release at xa:36 for our xa:40 departure clearing the write up even before a mechanic had repaired the problem. No mechanic had been to the cockpit up to this point. The customer service representatives actually closed the cabin door and pulled the jet bridge and then later brought the jet bridge back to the aircraft. 2) the maintenance release document showed that the mechanic had pressurized the hydraulic system to inspect for further hydraulic leaks; however; no mechanic entered the flight deck to perform such task prior to our receipt of the maintenance release. The right electric hydraulic pump would have had to been powered for that brake system to have been inspected for leaks and it was not pressurized. The release clearly states that the system was pressurized and inspected for leaks and that the area was cleaned. 3) the document showed that the hydraulic leak was inspected and cleaned with 3 drops of hydraulic fluid per minute evident at the brake hose assembly per maintenance manual xx-xx-xx. However; the captain went back downstairs to inspect the area and it looked the same with the same areas saturated in hydraulic fluid and no notable clean up having been performed. 4) upon arriving the gate at the destination our aircraft was met by a mechanic who said that he could see hydraulic fluid leaking from the left main gear wheel area as we taxied in at night. It would have been difficult to see this during the day and definitely not possible to see hydraulic fluid leaking from the wheel area at night as we taxied in! I questioned; why was a mechanic meeting the aircraft specifically looking for a hydraulic leak as we taxied in? My guess is that this mechanic received a phone call from the previous station's maintenance to meet our plane and take it out of service because of the known hydraulic defect that was not repaired before departure. This mechanic said; 'this airplane is not going anywhere tonight.' 5) there was a heavy line of hydraulic fluid on the ground along our taxi path right up to the left wheels where we were parked at the gate. We arrived at night. 6) maintenance removed the aircraft out of service and replaced the left main landing gear tilt actuator line; which has nothing to do with the #2 brake line leaking 3 drops per minutes. 7) the plane was cleared at the departure airport of the hydraulic leak; however it was clearly 'pencil whipped' to achieve an on time departure; thus completely sacrificing safety. There is a huge push at this carrier from the top down for on time departures. This pressure on our pilots; mechanics; gate agents and ramp personnel is clearly creating a chain of events that is severely compromising safety at any cost. The time line and sequence of events were evident at the departure airport as to what was transpiring. I neglected to put all of the pieces together until our arrival and then with further investigation by talking to maintenance control today as to the history of the aircraft and what maintenance did to correct the leak after the aircraft was pulled out of service in our destination that night. After putting all of the pieces together I now recognize the severity of the event in regard to jeopardizing in-flight aircraft operational safety and thus am writing a report. This following information also directly relates to the above hydraulic issue in regard to pressure I feel pertaining to this carrier's on time departures and whether or not a defect found on my preflight inspections will cause a delay: on the first flight of this same trip; described above; I wrote up the radome on my walk around. I could see day light shining through where the radome attaches to the front bulkhead of the aircraft; which I have never seen before. The mechanic inspected the radome and cleared the item; however; our departure was delayed a few minutes. After takeoff; while inflight; we received an ACARS from the chief pilot questioning the 'timing' or 'timeliness' of the write-up because it caused a delay. Again; I am experiencing pressure in regard to noting defects on my walk around and whether to write them up or not because it may be too close to departure time to note a defect and thus possibly cause a delay. This ACARS message from the chief pilot made me question my write-up and exerted pressure on me so that later on the same trip; when I saw the hydraulic leak; I momentarily considered ignoring the leak for fear of not achieving an on time departure since the plane came in late. It was close to departure time and writing up the leak would in fact cause another departure delay. I wrote up the hydraulic leak and as it turned out we departed with the same hydraulic defect anyway because maintenance is feeling the same exact pressure and fear for their job as I am feeling as a pilot; in regard to on time departures and defects that are found during the exterior preflight walk around. So; my report not only pertains to the hydraulic leak event; but just as much in regard to the pressure that upper management is clearly exerting on the employees for on time departures. As a front line employee and a pilot there is no better view than mine to see that this pressure for on time departures is directly compromising the lives of passengers and crew members. [This is because] each employee group that is responsible for the safe operation of aircraft is now willing to compromise their duties to achieve on time departures and even send an aircraft out for a transcontinental flight full of passengers with a known hydraulic defect! No; I am not a disgruntled employee. No; I am not angry or bitter. No; I don't have an axe to grind. No; I don't have a personal or union agenda to delay flights. No; I am not imagining things and I don't think anyone is out to get me at the company. I do feel that safety is being compromised for the sake of the precious on time departures!

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B757 Captain reported that a landing gear hydraulic leak reported prior to departure was not repaired even though the maintenance release indicated that it was. This air carrier management's push for on time departures is forcing flight crews and mechanics to not report defects or fake defect repairs.

Narrative: My report addresses a safety concern regarding pressure from this air carrier's Upper Management for on time departures that is directly compromising safety. Earlier this month flying a 757 aircraft we departed with a hydraulic defect that was not repaired as cleared in our maintenance release. This was the first flight of the day for us and this aircraft had just arrived at the gate. At the gate I performed the exterior aircraft preflight inspection. As I exited the jet bridge door prior to walking down the steps I could see a large pool of fluid under the left main landing gear wheels. Inspected fluid and determined it was hydraulic fluid pooled on ground. Entire truck and the rear main brakes and wheels were saturated with hydraulic fluid. We verbally called in the defect and also wrote it up via ACARS. The aircraft had a recent prior write up for the same issue. Since the plane was late inbound it was now close to departure time. The write up and repair/sign off proceeded as follows: 1) After we sent the ACARS hydraulic write up; a few minutes later we received a new maintenance release clearing the problem; which struck me as very unusual to get a new maintenance release so quickly especially with a large hydraulic leak; we received a new release at XA:36 for our XA:40 departure clearing the write up even before a Mechanic had repaired the problem. No Mechanic had been to the cockpit up to this point. The Customer Service Representatives actually closed the cabin door and pulled the jet bridge and then later brought the jet bridge back to the aircraft. 2) The maintenance release document showed that the Mechanic had pressurized the hydraulic system to inspect for further hydraulic leaks; however; no Mechanic entered the flight deck to perform such task prior to our receipt of the maintenance release. The right electric hydraulic pump would have had to been powered for that brake system to have been inspected for leaks and it was not pressurized. The release clearly states that the system was pressurized and inspected for leaks and that the area was cleaned. 3) The document showed that the hydraulic leak was inspected and cleaned with 3 drops of hydraulic fluid per minute evident at the brake hose assembly per maintenance manual XX-XX-XX. However; the Captain went back downstairs to inspect the area and it looked the same with the same areas saturated in hydraulic fluid and no notable clean up having been performed. 4) Upon arriving the gate at the destination our aircraft was met by a Mechanic who said that he could see hydraulic fluid leaking from the left main gear wheel area as we taxied in at night. It would have been difficult to see this during the day and definitely not possible to see hydraulic fluid leaking from the wheel area at night as we taxied in! I questioned; why was a Mechanic meeting the aircraft specifically looking for a hydraulic leak as we taxied in? My guess is that this Mechanic received a phone call from the previous station's Maintenance to meet our plane and take it out of service because of the known hydraulic defect that was not repaired before departure. This Mechanic said; 'This airplane is not going anywhere tonight.' 5) There was a heavy line of hydraulic fluid on the ground along our taxi path right up to the left wheels where we were parked at the gate. We arrived at night. 6) Maintenance removed the aircraft out of service and replaced the left main landing gear tilt actuator line; which has nothing to do with the #2 brake line leaking 3 drops per minutes. 7) The plane was cleared at the departure airport of the hydraulic leak; however it was clearly 'pencil whipped' to achieve an on time departure; thus completely sacrificing safety. There is a huge push at this carrier from the top down for on time departures. This pressure on our pilots; mechanics; gate agents and ramp personnel is clearly creating a chain of events that is severely compromising safety at any cost. The time line and sequence of events were evident at the departure airport as to what was transpiring. I neglected to put all of the pieces together until our arrival and then with further investigation by talking to Maintenance Control today as to the history of the aircraft and what Maintenance did to correct the leak after the aircraft was pulled out of service in our destination that night. After putting all of the pieces together I now recognize the severity of the event in regard to jeopardizing in-flight aircraft operational safety and thus am writing a report. This following information also directly relates to the above hydraulic issue in regard to pressure I feel pertaining to this carrier's on time departures and whether or not a defect found on my preflight inspections will cause a delay: On the first flight of this same trip; described above; I wrote up the radome on my walk around. I could see day light shining through where the radome attaches to the front bulkhead of the aircraft; which I have never seen before. The Mechanic inspected the radome and cleared the item; however; our departure was delayed a few minutes. After takeoff; while inflight; we received an ACARS from the Chief Pilot questioning the 'timing' or 'timeliness' of the write-up because it caused a delay. Again; I am experiencing pressure in regard to noting defects on my walk around and whether to write them up or not because it may be too close to departure time to note a defect and thus possibly cause a delay. This ACARS message from the Chief Pilot made me question my write-up and exerted pressure on me so that later on the same trip; when I saw the hydraulic leak; I momentarily considered ignoring the leak for fear of not achieving an on time departure since the plane came in late. It was close to departure time and writing up the leak would in fact cause another departure delay. I wrote up the hydraulic leak and as it turned out we departed with the same hydraulic defect anyway because Maintenance is feeling the same exact pressure and fear for their job as I am feeling as a pilot; in regard to on time departures and defects that are found during the exterior preflight walk around. So; my report not only pertains to the hydraulic leak event; but just as much in regard to the pressure that Upper Management is clearly exerting on the employees for on time departures. As a front line employee and a pilot there is no better view than mine to see that this pressure for on time departures is directly compromising the lives of passengers and crew members. [This is because] each employee group that is responsible for the safe operation of aircraft is now willing to compromise their duties to achieve on time departures and even send an aircraft out for a transcontinental flight full of passengers with a known hydraulic defect! No; I am not a disgruntled employee. No; I am not angry or bitter. No; I don't have an axe to grind. No; I don't have a personal or union agenda to delay flights. No; I am not imagining things and I don't think anyone is out to get me at the company. I do feel that safety is being compromised for the sake of the precious on time departures!

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.