Air carrier dispatched and flown with MEL item inoperative.

Attributes
ACN	201916
Time
Date	199202
Day	Sat
Local Time Of Day	1201 To 1800
Place
Locale Reference	airport : iah
State Reference	TX
Altitude	agl bound lower : 0 agl bound upper : 0
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Operator	common carrier : air carrier
Make Model Name	Large Transport, Low Wing, 3 Turbojet Eng
Flight Phase	ground : preflight
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : captain oversight : pic
Qualification	pilot : cfi pilot : atp
Experience	flight time last 90 days : 250 flight time total : 10000 flight time type : 4500
ASRS Report	201916
Person 2
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : second officer
Qualification	pilot : cfi pilot : instrument pilot : flight engineer pilot : commercial pilot : atp
Experience	flight time last 90 days : 255 flight time total : 4000 flight time type : 2140
ASRS Report	201728
Events
Anomaly	aircraft equipment problem : less severe non adherence : far other anomaly other
Independent Detector	other flight crewa
Resolutory Action	none taken : unable
Consequence	Other
Supplementary
Primary Problem	Flight Crew Human Performance
Air Traffic Incident	other

Narrative:

Aircraft dispatched with #2 main fuel gauge inoperative also #3 tank forward boost pump inoperative. MEL for #3 tank boost pump inoperative complied with. Some concern about legal dispatch and takeoff weight with #2 main fuel gauge inoperative. Event could have been prevented if dispatcher did not release aircraft. Captain did not catch MEL on inoperative fuel gauge.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: ACR DISPATCHED AND FLOWN WITH MEL ITEM INOP.

Narrative: ACFT DISPATCHED WITH #2 MAIN FUEL GAUGE INOP ALSO #3 TANK FORWARD BOOST PUMP INOP. MEL FOR #3 TANK BOOST PUMP INOP COMPLIED WITH. SOME CONCERN ABOUT LEGAL DISPATCH AND TKOF WT WITH #2 MAIN FUEL GAUGE INOP. EVENT COULD HAVE BEEN PREVENTED IF DISPATCHER DID NOT RELEASE ACFT. CAPT DID NOT CATCH MEL ON INOP FUEL GAUGE.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 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.