A B727 was dispatched with no MEL reference or maintenance manual reference to a deferred item.

Attributes
ACN	359260
Time
Date	199701
Day	Tue
Local Time Of Day	0601 To 1200
Place
Locale Reference	airport : zzz
State Reference	US
Altitude	agl bound lower : 0 agl bound upper : 0
Environment
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Operator	common carrier : air carrier
Make Model Name	B727 Undifferentiated or Other Model
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	other
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	other personnel other
Qualification	other other : other
ASRS Report	359260
Person 2
Affiliation	government : faa
Function	observation : air carrier inspector
Qualification	other other : other
Events
Anomaly	non adherence : far non adherence : published procedure other anomaly other
Independent Detector	other other : unspecified
Resolutory Action	other
Consequence	Other
Supplementary
Air Traffic Incident	other

Narrative:

At XA30 on jan/xx/97 I deferred a nose landing gear ground sense bell crank bearing dust cover retaining snap ring on a B727 aircraft #ZZZ. For a reference I used none with the intent of updating the reference later. The FAA inspector was also questioning the reference given to me by maintenance controller for 6 loose rivets on the left outboard aft flap, same aircraft. We were unable to locate it in local gn manuals, so he requested that I call maintenance control again for him. After doing so, I returned home. Later I became aware that I had forgotten to update the deferred item and intended to do so when I returned to work. By the time I went back to work, the item had been cleared and I saw no reason to pursue it any further.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B727 WAS DISPATCHED WITH NO MEL REF OR MAINT MANUAL REF TO A DEFERRED ITEM.

Narrative: AT XA30 ON JAN/XX/97 I DEFERRED A NOSE LNDG GEAR GND SENSE BELL CRANK BEARING DUST COVER RETAINING SNAP RING ON A B727 ACFT #ZZZ. FOR A REF I USED NONE WITH THE INTENT OF UPDATING THE REF LATER. THE FAA INSPECTOR WAS ALSO QUESTIONING THE REF GIVEN TO ME BY MAINT CTLR FOR 6 LOOSE RIVETS ON THE L OUTBOARD AFT FLAP, SAME ACFT. WE WERE UNABLE TO LOCATE IT IN LCL GN MANUALS, SO HE REQUESTED THAT I CALL MAINT CTL AGAIN FOR HIM. AFTER DOING SO, I RETURNED HOME. LATER I BECAME AWARE THAT I HAD FORGOTTEN TO UPDATE THE DEFERRED ITEM AND INTENDED TO DO SO WHEN I RETURNED TO WORK. BY THE TIME I WENT BACK TO WORK, THE ITEM HAD BEEN CLRED AND I SAW NO REASON TO PURSUE IT ANY FURTHER.

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.