Originally Posted by 450knotOffice

Interesting comments.

The procedure we have always had has been this:

1) If a writeup occurs at a maint. station, we would call local maint. and they'd come out and decide whether to MEL the writeup or not. In most cases they would MEL the item, which would involve about 10 -20 minutes worth of paperwork on their part:

a) accomplish the MEL provisos

b) fill out the Action Taken block, which included the proper verbiage for the deferral, filling in Date, TAT (total airframe time), Station, and ATA # ((Airline Transport Assoc. Item #).

c) fill in the far right block with their signature and employee number

d) fill out the M.I.C. Sheet (Maintenance Item Control sheet) in the front of the logbook

1) Control Log page #
2) Item #
3) Date entered
4) Station
6) A discrepancies Summary, including the MEL# and Auth.#

e) fill out one of the white three-sticker Aircraft Placards

1) complete registration number of the aircraft
2) Enter date placard was installed.
3) Enter station issuing the placard.
4) Enter complete MEL Manual item number. Include number on INOPERATIVE portion of the placard.
5) Enter authorization number.
6) Enter date of issuance.
7) Enter expiration criteria, (date, TAT, etc.), as directed by MOC.
8) Enter AML logbook page number that discovery was entered on.
9) Enter category code of repair interval.
10) Enter remarks (reason why item was deferred) and method of deferral compliance if applicable.
11) Enter signature and employee number who deferred the item.
12) Enter complete MEL Manual item number on the INOPERATIVE portion of the placard.
13) Enter complete MEL Manual item number on the INOPERATIVE portion of the placard.
14) The Aircraft Placard shall be placed on the inside cover of the AML

The Maintenance personnel would return with the completed book in about 10-20 minutes and we'd be good to go.


2) If the writeup occurred at a non maintenance station, we would call Maintenance Ops Control (MOC), explain the writeup, and they would decide whether we could defer per a "Flight Crew MEL". If so, a "Flight Crew MEL" was issued, along with a MOC Control number and the MOC controller's employee number. THAT info would then be entered into the next Mechanical Discrepancies block below the original writeup, and a tiny little orange temporary Crew MEL sticker would be placed where the MEL book decreed it be placed. At that point we were good to go until the aircraft arrived at the next maintenance station (flying under a Crew MEL), at which point the local maintenance personnel would arrive at the aircraft, take the logbook, and issue a proper MEL per the procedures that I spelled out above, balancing out the original writeup and the block underneath it that the crew used to create the original "Crew MEL".



With the new procedures, regardless of whether or not we are at a maintenance station or not, if we have a writeup, we are to call MOC. MOC will then determine whether a MEL will be issued. If so, we will accomplish all of the rather convulated writeup procedures detailed above ourselves, and issue a permanent MEL. Local Hub Maintenance will never have been in the loop - only MOC in Dallas.

We've been told that we MUST dot every i and cross every t properly in terms of the data that must be entered (of course). If not, we may be subject to discipline and FAA enforcement. That's all fine and dandy except that we now have a LOT more data to enter and that data has to be entered not only on the LOG page of the logbook, but also on the MIC sheet, and the three sections of the MEL Placard - all with minimal training and no "experience". That's fine with me. However, as I've already told my base chief pilot, I will NOT be rushed when I do this and if it takes local maintenance 10-20 minutes to accomplish this, expect slow me to take significantly longer. They will take a big delay and will likely not recover it, considering our usual 25 minute turns.