An air carrier light transport captain flew an aircraft that had exceeded its MEL deferral limit.

Attributes
ACN	352010
Time
Date	199611
Day	Tue
Local Time Of Day	0001 To 0600
Place
Locale Reference	airport : day
State Reference	OH
Altitude	agl bound lower : 0 agl bound upper : 0
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Controlling Facilities	tower : day tower : lit
Operator	common carrier : air carrier
Make Model Name	Commercial Fixed Wing
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 135
Navigation In Use	Other Other
Flight Phase	ground : preflight
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : captain oversight : pic
Qualification	pilot : commercial pilot : instrument pilot : atp pilot : cfi
Experience	flight time last 90 days : 200 flight time total : 3100 flight time type : 200
ASRS Report	352010
Person 2
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : first officer
Qualification	pilot : instrument pilot : commercial
Events
Anomaly	aircraft equipment problem : less severe non adherence : far other anomaly other
Independent Detector	other flight crewa
Resolutory Action	none taken : detected after the fact
Consequence	Other
Supplementary
Primary Problem	Aircraft
Air Traffic Incident	Pilot Deviation

Narrative:

Company assured crews that aircraft was legal to fly with a known discrepancy. Upon further inspection after flight, the PIC discovered that the aircraft had exceeded its 15 hour MEL deferral limit.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: AN ACR LTT CAPT FLEW AN ACFT THAT HAD EXCEEDED ITS MEL DEFERRAL LIMIT.

Narrative: COMPANY ASSURED CREWS THAT ACFT WAS LEGAL TO FLY WITH A KNOWN DISCREPANCY. UPON FURTHER INSPECTION AFTER FLT, THE PIC DISCOVERED THAT THE ACFT HAD EXCEEDED ITS 15 HR MEL DEFERRAL LIMIT.

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.