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First officer reports a level one 'cargo fire test fail' alert appeared during a pre-flight check after one of the two fire bottles in the lower forward cargo compartment of their dc-10 had been deferred under MEL 26-22-01. The MEL did not address whether or not that was a proper indication. First officer recommends the MEL be revised to indicate the 'fail alert' is a normal occurrence. Aircraft departed without additional information.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1154622 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201403 |
| Local Time Of Day | 1801-2400 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ZZZ.Airport |
| State Reference | US |
| Environment | |
| Light | Night |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | DC-10 Undifferentiated or Other Model |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | Parked |
| Component | |
| Aircraft Component | Cargo Compartment Fire/Overheat Warning |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | First Officer Pilot Flying |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy |
Narrative:
Aircraft had MEL 26-22-01. The MEL I believe was fully complied with; and the captain did a cargo fire test as part of his pre-flight. We received a level one 'cargo fire test fail' alert. The MEL did not address whether or not this was a proper indication; but intuitively it seemed logical to get the 'test fail' with one [fire] bottle MEL'd. We consulted the QRH; which directed us to contact 'maintenance'; so we contacted maintenance who came to the cockpit. They had a similar take on the [fire test fail] alert; as they felt it was a logical occurrence due to the [cargo] fire bottle being inoperative. At that point in time we felt we had complied with both the MEL and the QRH; so we flew to ZZZ1 uneventfully. After talking about the problem further in-flight; both the captain and I felt that the MEL should be written to tell us whether or not the 'cargo fire test fail' indication with this MEL is a normal indication or not. This would save a lot of time for future crews. Indication not addressed by the MEL. [Recommend to] have the MEL indicate whether a 'cargo fire test fail' alert is normal with this MEL. Airline transport pilot.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: First Officer reports a Level One 'Cargo Fire Test Fail' alert appeared during a pre-flight check after one of the two fire bottles in the lower forward cargo compartment of their DC-10 had been deferred under MEL 26-22-01. The MEL did not address whether or not that was a proper indication. First Officer recommends the MEL be revised to indicate the 'Fail Alert' is a normal occurrence. Aircraft departed without additional information.
Narrative: Aircraft had MEL 26-22-01. The MEL I believe was fully complied with; and the Captain did a Cargo Fire Test as part of his pre-flight. We received a Level One 'Cargo Fire Test Fail' alert. The MEL did not address whether or not this was a proper indication; but intuitively it seemed logical to get the 'Test Fail' with one [Fire] bottle MEL'd. We consulted the QRH; which directed us to contact 'MAINTENANCE'; so we contacted Maintenance who came to the cockpit. They had a similar take on the [Fire Test Fail] alert; as they felt it was a logical occurrence due to the [Cargo] Fire bottle being inoperative. At that point in time we felt we had complied with both the MEL and the QRH; so we flew to ZZZ1 uneventfully. After talking about the problem further in-flight; both the Captain and I felt that the MEL should be written to tell us whether or not the 'Cargo Fire Test Fail' indication with this MEL is a normal indication or not. This would save a lot of time for future crews. Indication not addressed by the MEL. [Recommend to] have the MEL indicate whether a 'Cargo Fire Test Fail' alert is normal with this MEL. Airline Transport Pilot.
Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site 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.