Narrative:

When we arrived at the aircraft; maintenance was working on fixing the autopilot and the right fuel pump. They ended up deferring both. The inbound crew told us maintenance had installed a new autopilot two legs prior. They flew the first leg and it worked but the next leg (to where we were picking it up) it had failed again. The captain also told me the flight directors were not following heading commands. The mechanic informed us there was a perfectly good spare aircraft at the remote pad that was all ready to go and had no deferred items.I called control and told them I did not want to take our scheduled ship to ZZZ because the autopilot was deferred and it is a long leg; the return leg would be at night; we had to also go to ZZZ2 which has complicated arrival procedures involving multiple step downs and that the previous pilot said the flight directors were not following heading commands correctly. I did not feel it was safe for us to fly. I strongly suggested we take the spare aircraft as the mechanic told us it was in excellent condition and ready to go.control told me to call a chief pilot and tell him I was refusing the aircraft and then we would go to plan b; swapping aircrafts. After receiving no reply to a text message I called the chief pilot on duty. He was very aggressive with me on the phone and told me I absolutely had to take the plane. I was refusing a maintenance cleared aircraft and that I must take it because I am letting down all of the passengers that want and need to get home. He continued to verbally assault me by questioning my pilot skills and asking me if I thought I was a pilot and whether I could fly a plane without autopilot because according to him I obviously could not do that. He kept trying to force me to take the plane; all the while threatening me if I didn't take it. He told me if I refused the aircraft I would be in serious trouble with the company and that I would have to answer to 'higher ups'. I cannot account for the number of times he told me I 'must' and 'have to' take that aircraft; but it was more times than I can count on two hands. His voice was aggressive and threatening. I felt I was being 'pilot pushed' and coerced into doing something both my first officer and I decided was not safe. After that phone call he called me again from his cellphone. His words were exactly; 'you are going to take that airplane; you have to take that airplane'. I told him I had every right to refuse it. He then told me I was removed without pay immediately. Scheduling then called out a reserve captain to fly the trip. When the crew finally left for the scheduled round trip they were given another aircraft. So; ultimately; the crew never had to take broken ship. However; when they ultimately returned; they were instructed to take broken airplane on the final leg to ZZZ2. The captain refused the aircraft and without; any further discussion; they were given another ship with a working autopilot. In conclusion; the chief pilot threatened me with disciplinary action and verbally abused me; saying that I was a lessor pilot unable to perform my duties. He told me I was failing my passengers and creating unnecessary delays to the operation.I want a written apology for his comments and full back pay. He needs to go to sensitivity training and learn how to conduct himself in a professional manner. He created a hostile work environment in the form of 'pilot pushing'. Threatening and concluding the matter with disciplinary action; removed from flight status with no pay. His threatening and harassing manner should be dealt with immediately so this does not happen again and any pilot with the company can safely and without persecution act within his/her right as a PIC to refuse an aircraft that he/she does not feel safe flying. Human resources needs to investigate this matter as I know for a fact that another veteran female captain at our airline has experienced similar issues with this chief pilot.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A conflict arose between the Captain of a CRJ-200 and her Chief Pilot over the propriety of dispatching a flight with the autopilot deferred inoperative; the Captain believing it would be too fatiguing and the Chief Pilot asserting the flight was appropriate because the MEL did not require the autopilot to be operative. The Captain refused the aircraft and was removed from flight status pending resolution of their differences.

Narrative: When we arrived at the aircraft; Maintenance was working on fixing the autopilot and the right fuel pump. They ended up deferring both. The inbound crew told us Maintenance had installed a new autopilot two legs prior. They flew the first leg and it worked but the next leg (to where we were picking it up) it had failed again. The Captain also told me the flight directors were not following heading commands. The mechanic informed us there was a perfectly good spare aircraft at the remote pad that was all ready to go and had no deferred items.I called Control and told them I did not want to take our scheduled ship to ZZZ because the autopilot was deferred and it is a long leg; the return leg would be at night; we had to also go to ZZZ2 which has complicated arrival procedures involving multiple step downs and that the previous pilot said the flight directors were not following heading commands correctly. I did not feel it was safe for us to fly. I strongly suggested we take the spare aircraft as the mechanic told us it was in excellent condition and ready to go.Control told me to call a Chief Pilot and tell him I was refusing the aircraft and then we would go to plan b; swapping aircrafts. After receiving no reply to a text message I called the Chief Pilot on duty. He was very aggressive with me on the phone and told me I absolutely HAD to take the plane. I was refusing a Maintenance cleared aircraft and that I must take it because I am letting down all of the passengers that want and need to get home. He continued to verbally assault me by questioning my pilot skills and asking me if I thought I was a pilot and whether I could fly a plane without autopilot because according to him I obviously could not do that. He kept trying to force me to take the plane; all the while threatening me if I didn't take it. He told me if I refused the aircraft I would be in serious trouble with the company and that I would have to answer to 'higher ups'. I cannot account for the number of times he told me I 'must' and 'have to' take that aircraft; but it was more times than I can count on two hands. His voice was aggressive and threatening. I felt I was being 'pilot pushed' and coerced into doing something both my First Officer and I decided was not safe. After that phone call he called me again from his cellphone. His words were exactly; 'YOU ARE GOING TO TAKE THAT AIRPLANE; YOU HAVE TO TAKE THAT AIRPLANE'. I told him I had every right to refuse it. He then told me I was removed without pay IMMEDIATELY. Scheduling then called out a reserve Captain to fly the trip. When the crew finally left for the scheduled round trip they were given another aircraft. So; ultimately; the crew never had to take broken ship. However; when they ultimately returned; they were instructed to take broken airplane on the final leg to ZZZ2. The Captain refused the aircraft and without; any further discussion; they were given another ship with a working autopilot. In conclusion; the Chief Pilot threatened me with disciplinary action and verbally abused me; saying that I was a lessor pilot unable to perform my duties. He told me I was failing my passengers and creating unnecessary delays to the operation.I want a written apology for his comments and full back pay. He needs to go to sensitivity training and learn how to conduct himself in a professional manner. He created a hostile work environment in the form of 'pilot pushing'. Threatening and concluding the matter with disciplinary action; removed from flight status with no pay. His threatening and harassing manner should be dealt with immediately so this does not happen again and any pilot with the company can safely and without persecution act within his/her right as a PIC to refuse an aircraft that he/she does not feel safe flying. Human Resources needs to investigate this matter as I know for a fact that another veteran female captain at our airline has experienced similar issues with this Chief Pilot.

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.