LSM said:
Ok then. I'll accept the aeroplane if you decide that I should.
As soon as it moves under it's own power I'll decide that it's not airworthy and come back on stand, then...
I'll accept the aeroplane again and as soon as it moves under it's own power I'll come back on stand, then...
With all due respect, you seem to have missed the part (back in #131) where I stated (now
bolded for your convenience):
In my airline's (FAR Part 121) MEL Preamble secion, under "Responsibility For Decision", it states that the Captain and the Dispatcher have the ability and responsibility to decline an aircraft, irrespective of MEL permissiveness, if either don't feel the aircraft is safe for the intended operation.
There are probably some out there that will interpret this as a dilution of a PIC's authority, but it's actually a backstop to it. It's not as if a dispatcher's "yes" can overrule a PIC's "no", but rather a potential situation of a dispatcher's "no" overruling a PIC's "yes". I've had more than one situation over the years where an overzealous PIC (or MX controller) really wanted to move a sick aircraft to a point where the crew domicile or maintenance facility was located, and have had to be the one to put the kabosh on the operation, both for the benefit to the passengers and the corporate enitity itself. PIC authority is not unfettered, that's why FAR 91.3 doesn't actually apply to operations conducted under Part 121, and FAR 121.533/121.557 (Domestic) and 121.535/121.557 (Flag) do.
I can genuinely and honestly say that anytime a PIC has ever refused one of the aircraft that’s been assigned to me, I’ve supported their decision, even though in a few rare cases I personally thought it was completely safe –and- legal to have operated. I don’t subscribe to “pilot pushing.” In the relatively few cases where I was the one to refuse an aircraft, the PIC wasn’t necessarily in disagreement as to the non-airworthiness of the aircraft, but didn’t want to complicate their own schedule by fessing up and saying “nyet” themselves. The well-known “get-there-its” virus has many different strains…
Cheers…