Narrative:

I received a call from crew scheduling regarding a work assignment. I'm a reserve pilot. The assignment consisted of a deadhead to the aircraft's location; where I was to meet the rest of my crew; and the repositioning of an erj-170. All of this is part of normal operations for a pilot working in a part 121 environment. I was; however; at this point also notified that we were to test fly this airplane; and sign paperwork certifying its airworthiness prior to repositioning it.the airplane in question had just come out of maintenance where a c-check was completed. It is my understanding that during this maintenance function the aircraft in question gets almost entirely taken apart; inspected; and then reassembled. Before it can return to service it has to be test flown; and subsequently signed off certifying the aircraft flies/performs as intended without any malfunctions.I have never test flown an airplane; nor was I ever trained to do so. I felt extremely uncomfortable about being exposed to a situation in which the risk factor to my well being was significantly increased beyond that of the amount of risk involved in day to day part 121 flight operations. Immediately; I called crew scheduling and informed them that I would be more than happy to reposition the airplane once deemed airworthy; but that I felt extremely uncomfortable doing the test flight for the aforementioned reasons.at this point; I was transferred to the head of crew scheduling who advised me that if I refused the test flight I would be marked unavailable for the day. This would result in a four hour loss of pay. As I could not afford to lose four hours of pay; I was essentially bullied and threatened into doing the test flight. I was threatened with being marked unavailable for the day even though that was not the case; because I felt extremely uncomfortable doing a test flight for which I was never trained.this test flight was performed by myself; and another pilot who had never done a test flight; at an airport unfamiliar to the both of us. There was no official check list. We were given a generic 'to do' list; and told to simply go out and do whatever was on the list. One of the items on that list was to perform flight at mach .86. This airplane has a mmo speed limitation of mach .82.test pilots are exposed to a level of risk well beyond the amount of risk found with operating an airworthy airplane in a part 121 operation. Test pilots accept this level of risk consciously; and willingly. They are compensated accordingly for taking that risk. I have no interest in the thrill or compensation involved with being a test pilot; and most importantly in the increased risk involved with being one. I am not comparing what a test pilot flying a newly designed aircraft does with what I was asked to do. However; it cannot be denied that there is an increased level of risk one is exposed to when doing any sort of test flying.I should not be threatened with being marked unavailable; when the opposite is true; or the subsequent loss of pay; if I feel unsafe about operating an airplane. This is not the behavior of an airline which has safety as its number one priority. Forcing a stressed out pilot into the flight deck of an airplane can only lead to accidents; and unnecessary loss of life. The test flight in question ended without an incident; but had something occurred I am not confident I would have handled it properly considering the mental state I was in.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An E-170 First Officer on reserve was threatened with loss of pay if he refused to fly a post maintenance test flight for which he felt unqualified; for which he had not contracted and was not properly compensated to perform.

Narrative: I received a call from Crew Scheduling regarding a work assignment. I'm a reserve pilot. The assignment consisted of a deadhead to the aircraft's location; where I was to meet the rest of my crew; and the repositioning of an ERJ-170. All of this is part of normal operations for a pilot working in a Part 121 environment. I was; however; at this point also notified that we were to test fly this airplane; and sign paperwork certifying its airworthiness prior to repositioning it.The airplane in question had just come out of maintenance where a C-check was completed. It is my understanding that during this maintenance function the aircraft in question gets almost entirely taken apart; inspected; and then reassembled. Before it can return to service it has to be test flown; and subsequently signed off certifying the aircraft flies/performs as intended without any malfunctions.I have never test flown an airplane; nor was I ever trained to do so. I felt extremely uncomfortable about being exposed to a situation in which the risk factor to my well being was significantly increased beyond that of the amount of risk involved in day to day Part 121 flight operations. Immediately; I called Crew Scheduling and informed them that I would be more than happy to reposition the airplane once deemed airworthy; but that I felt extremely uncomfortable doing the test flight for the aforementioned reasons.At this point; I was transferred to the head of Crew Scheduling who advised me that if I refused the test flight I would be marked unavailable for the day. This would result in a four hour loss of pay. As I could not afford to lose four hours of pay; I was essentially bullied and threatened into doing the test flight. I was threatened with being marked unavailable for the day even though that was not the case; because I felt extremely uncomfortable doing a test flight for which I was never trained.This test flight was performed by myself; and another pilot who had never done a test flight; at an airport unfamiliar to the both of us. There was no official check list. We were given a generic 'to do' list; and told to simply go out and do whatever was on the list. One of the items on that list was to perform flight at Mach .86. This airplane has a Mmo speed limitation of Mach .82.Test pilots are exposed to a level of risk well beyond the amount of risk found with operating an airworthy airplane in a Part 121 operation. Test pilots accept this level of risk consciously; and willingly. They are compensated accordingly for taking that risk. I have no interest in the thrill or compensation involved with being a test pilot; and most importantly in the increased risk involved with being one. I am not comparing what a test pilot flying a newly designed aircraft does with what I was asked to do. However; it cannot be denied that there is an increased level of risk one is exposed to when doing any sort of test flying.I should not be threatened with being marked unavailable; when the opposite is true; or the subsequent loss of pay; if I feel unsafe about operating an airplane. This is not the behavior of an airline which has safety as its number one priority. Forcing a stressed out pilot into the flight deck of an airplane can only lead to accidents; and unnecessary loss of life. The test flight in question ended without an incident; but had something occurred I am not confident I would have handled it properly considering the mental state I was in.

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.