Date: 201308
Local time of day: 0601-1200
Location: ZZZ.Airport, US
Light: Dawn
Aircraft: Regional Jet 700 ER/LR (CRJ700)
Operator: Air Carrier
Operating under: Part 121
Flight phase: Parked
Aircraft component: Aeroplane Flight Control
Component problem: Improperly Operated; Malfunctioning
Reporter organization: Air Carrier
Reporter function: First Officer; Pilot Not Flying
Reporter qualification: Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Second reporter function: Pilot Flying; Captain
Anomaly: Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Other / Unknown; Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Smoke / Fire / Fumes / Odor
Detector: Person Flight Crew
When detected: Aircraft In Service At Gate
Result: General Maintenance Action; General Release Refused / Aircraft Not Accepted
Contributing factors: Aircraft; Human Factors; Procedure; Company Policy
Primary problem: Aircraft

Narrative: Aircraft discovered to have a maintenance issue; upon contacting Maintenance the local contract Mechanic was called out and a procedure to correct the issue started to take place. The aircraft was experiencing issues related to the failure of ADC1 and consequently it caused multiple other failures. Maintenance Control directed the flight crew through a circuit breaker reset for one failure; the Spoileron (SPOST test) to force a fix for the issue. Flight crew attempted this and complied to no avail and circuit breakers were advised to be reset per Maintenance Control. After second attempt the Captain asked the Maintenance Controller 'how many times would you like us to do this?' to which the Maintenance Controller replied 'just put the contract Mechanic on the line and he'll do it.' Long story short the contract Mechanic tried to force the SPOST test multiple times; we stopped counting on event number 10; and we voiced our concern that this isn't good for the aircraft. Upon about the 10th reset to force the system into submission the aircraft immediately became filled with an acrid smoke of electrical fire/smoke and the Mechanic was told by the Captain to immediately shut down the aircraft. The aircraft filled with a pungent odor of acrid electrical smoke due to the multiple resets forced by Maintenance. The flight crew voiced their concern to the issue and was met with indifference due to the fact that the Mechanic at Maintenance Control wanted this aircraft back in base for the fix and was just trying to do his job. I recognize this; but we have procedures and policies that we have to follow and the flight crew did; to the best of their abilities; follow just that. We feel that the aircraft should not have been forced to do the test; so many times and it directly attributed to the smell of electrical smoke in the aircraft. A post-flight walk-around was accomplished and the source was not determined for the smoke. Crew left the aircraft secured and exited the aircraft because the Captain found the situation to be unsafe. The contract Mechanic was left to tend to the aircraft as we handed over the responsibilities to him because the Maintenance Controller advised contract Mechanic to stand by.


Second narrative: Arrived at aircraft and discovered an issue with the Captain's altimeter. As per Maintenance Control; several system resets were performed. On or about the 4th reset; I asked him where this was going and how many times do we have to perform the reset. He asked that I put the Mechanic on the phone to continue what turned out to be over 10 plus forced SPOST tests. I contacted base Chief Pilot to make him aware of the problem. On or about the 10th reset per Maintenance Control; a strong odor of electrical smoke was observed; the aircraft was shut down; and I ordered everyone to immediately exit the aircraft. No obvious fire or smoke was observed.


Synopsis: CRJ-700 flight crew reports being instructed to do the Spoileron (SPOST test) to force a fix for a problem that started with an ADC1 failure during preflight. After the fourth test the flight crew calls a timeout and a Contract Mechanic continues testing under the direction of Maintenance Control. After the tenth unsuccessful test the aircraft fills with smoke and is shut down.