I agree that the pressure is probably coming from above but I think that the Supervisor expected that the Crew Chief would put his license at risk. If anything happened he would have sworn up and down that he had nothing to do with it,"look I didnt sign it, he did", like we've seen in the past.Eric,
Bob Owens is right...there have been a slew of complaints to the FAA regarding coercion when it comes to aircraft maintenance.
But that is about to change, because a recent incident at JFK regarding a supervisor ordering a crew chief to release an ETOPS trip BEFORE all the paperwork was complete has finally got the FAA's attention.
Now tell me, WHY would a supervisor risk his license and job?
Maybe pressure from his/her boss?
A big part of the problem is the FAA has a dual role.....PROMOTE the aviation industry and ENFORCE it!