Narrative:

While on our layover I received a call from the captain who informed me that our aircraft was inbound with the right generator inoperative. We discussed it and made the decision to refuse the aircraft in that condition for our flight. She was informed that the item would be fixed; and we departed to the airport as scheduled. When we arrived in operations we were told they were still checking the problem but we would depart on schedule. As we were about to leave operations we were told that the generator had to be removed and replaced and we would depart 1:05 minutes late. We then called the crew desk to confirm that we must depart no later than 1:50 late because of duty time limits. We informed operations of this restriction. Shortly after; operations requested to start boarding. We agreed; knowing that it would require at least one of us to occupy a cockpit seat for the engine runs.about an hour later with the captain in her seat and a mechanic in the right seat; they motored the right engine to check for leaks. No leaks were detected. Ten minutes later the right engine was started to check the generator operation; as required by the maintenance manual. (This is where the problem began. About three weeks prior; I had done this exact same procedure on another flight. I knew the process was quite lengthy and required two engine runs. On the first run the task required many items including the putting heavy loads on the generator; checking voltage and frequency. I believe the final item was to disconnect the idg drive and shut down the engine. After maintenance reconnected the idg drive; we re-started the engine again to check that the generator was re-connected and on line.)now back to our problem. During our engine run; the mechanic did not have any of the tasks from the maintenance manual in the cockpit with him. This raised the first red flag for me. The engine was started; the generator was put on line; and the mechanic looked at the maintenance electrical page. He then said to shut down the engine; that the check was complete; and it would be signed off and a new maintenance release would be sent. I was dumbfounded. When I asked about the tasks that we performed just weeks ago on the same procedure; he had no idea what I was talking about. I was adamant that he check with a supervisor; because this didn't seem right. He went out of the cockpit to look into it. When he left; we made a satcom call to dispatch. Dispatch patched in maintenance control and we asked him about the required tasks to sign off the right generator after it was replaced. Basically; he said he would check it out and call local maintenance. We asked him to contact us to let us know that the tasks had been done correctly. Two or three mechanics then showed up in the cockpit and said that everything had been completed as required. I was still adamant that something was not right. We were now very close to going illegal and there was a huge pressure to close the door and get us pushed back no matter what our concerns were. The captain told the agent not to close the door. This order was ignored; and the door was closed. We then called dispatch and maintenance control to make sure everything had been done correctly. He said that he was told by local maintenance that they had followed the proper procedure. He then mentioned something about the idg drive being disconnected and reconnected. We told them that this was never done. By this time we were illegal to depart. We called operations and asked for a mechanic supervisor or a lead mechanic. When he arrived we asked maintenance control to tell us the specific procedure that was required. He gave us the reference number. The mechanics did; in fact; have the proper procedure in hand. The controller then told us to look at the final task of the procedure. It tells the mechanics to complete another reference numbered task! The supervisor had that specific task in his hand. It wasthe exact same tasks that I had performed just weeks ago! There seemed to be extreme pressure to get this flight out at all costs. You could see it in the faces of the mechanics and agent they seemed to be very stressed. A comment by one mechanic that 'we're under a time constraint' seems to verify this. When the supervisor mechanic showed up in the cockpit at the end; he was still adamant that everything had been done correctly; even though he had the uncompleted procedure in his hand! I'm not sure who is to blame here; but from what I saw; everyone who was involved was willing to take any shortcut available; safety be damned. If I had not been involved in the same situation a few weeks ago; this flight would have departed without these safety issues being completed.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B777 flight crew refused an aircraft on which maintenance failed to properly complete procedures required to be accomplished when an engine driven generator is replaced. The length of time necessary to complete the procedure and the need to get the aircraft off the gate in a timely fashion to prevent crew illegalities were in conflict and decisions appeared to have been made to prioritize the timely departure.

Narrative: While on our layover I received a call from the Captain who informed me that our aircraft was inbound with the right generator inoperative. We discussed it and made the decision to refuse the aircraft in that condition for our flight. She was informed that the item would be fixed; and we departed to the airport as scheduled. When we arrived in operations we were told they were still checking the problem but we would depart on schedule. As we were about to leave operations we were told that the generator had to be removed and replaced and we would depart 1:05 minutes late. We then called the crew desk to confirm that we must depart no later than 1:50 late because of duty time limits. We informed operations of this restriction. Shortly after; operations requested to start boarding. We agreed; knowing that it would require at least one of us to occupy a cockpit seat for the engine runs.About an hour later with the Captain in her seat and a mechanic in the right seat; they motored the right engine to check for leaks. No leaks were detected. Ten minutes later the right engine was started to check the generator operation; as required by the Maintenance Manual. (This is where the problem began. About three weeks prior; I had done this exact same procedure on another flight. I knew the process was quite lengthy and required two engine runs. On the first run the task required many items including the putting heavy loads on the generator; checking voltage and frequency. I believe the final item was to disconnect the IDG Drive and shut down the engine. After maintenance reconnected the IDG Drive; we re-started the engine again to check that the generator was re-connected and on line.)Now back to our problem. During our engine run; the mechanic did not have any of the tasks from the Maintenance Manual in the cockpit with him. This raised the first red flag for me. The engine was started; the generator was put on line; and the mechanic looked at the maintenance electrical page. He then said to shut down the engine; that the check was complete; and it would be signed off and a new maintenance release would be sent. I was dumbfounded. When I asked about the tasks that we performed just weeks ago on the same procedure; he had no idea what I was talking about. I was adamant that he check with a supervisor; because this didn't seem right. He went out of the cockpit to look into it. When he left; we made a SATCOM call to Dispatch. Dispatch patched in Maintenance Control and we asked him about the required tasks to sign off the right generator after it was replaced. Basically; he said he would check it out and call Local Maintenance. We asked him to contact us to let us know that the tasks had been done correctly. Two or three mechanics then showed up in the cockpit and said that everything had been completed as required. I was still adamant that something was not right. We were now very close to going illegal and there was a huge pressure to close the door and get us pushed back no matter what our concerns were. The Captain told the agent not to close the door. This order was ignored; and the door was closed. We then called Dispatch and Maintenance Control to make sure everything had been done correctly. He said that he was told by local maintenance that they had followed the proper procedure. He then mentioned something about the IDG Drive being disconnected and reconnected. We told them that this was never done. By this time we were illegal to depart. We called operations and asked for a mechanic supervisor or a lead mechanic. When he arrived we asked Maintenance Control to tell us the specific procedure that was required. He gave us the reference number. The mechanics did; in fact; have the proper procedure in hand. The Controller then told us to look at the final task of the procedure. It tells the mechanics to complete another reference numbered task! The supervisor had that specific task in his hand. It wasthe exact same tasks that I had performed just weeks ago! There seemed to be extreme pressure to get this flight out at all costs. You could see it in the faces of the mechanics and agent they seemed to be very stressed. A comment by one mechanic that 'we're under a time constraint' seems to verify this. When the supervisor mechanic showed up in the cockpit at the end; he was still adamant that everything had been done correctly; even though he had the uncompleted procedure in his hand! I'm not sure who is to blame here; but from what I saw; everyone who was involved was willing to take any shortcut available; safety be damned. If I had not been involved in the same situation a few weeks ago; this flight would have departed without these safety issues being completed.

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.