A B757-200 was dispatched with a passenger seat with a defective seat belt deferred.

Attributes
ACN	398590
Time
Date	199803
Day	Tue
Local Time Of Day	0601 To 1200
Place
Locale Reference	airport : mia
State Reference	FL
Altitude	agl bound lower : 0 agl bound upper : 0
Environment
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Operator	common carrier : air carrier
Make Model Name	B757-200
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Navigation In Use	Other Other
Flight Phase	ground : parked ground : preflight
Flight Plan	None
Person 1
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : captain oversight : pic
Qualification	pilot : atp
ASRS Report	398590
Person 2
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : first officer
Qualification	pilot : commercial pilot : instrument
Events
Anomaly	aircraft equipment problem : less severe other anomaly other
Independent Detector	other other : unspecified
Resolutory Action	none taken : detected after the fact
Consequence	Other
Supplementary
Primary Problem	Aircraft
Air Traffic Incident	other

Narrative:

As door was being closed a flight attendant informed me of an empty seat that was missing part of its seat belt. The belt should have been replaced prior to departure but was incorrectly deferred to be replaced at ord. The MEL was not reviewed until after departure and was not applied in this case.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B757-200 WAS DISPATCHED WITH A PAX SEAT WITH A DEFECTIVE SEAT BELT DEFERRED.

Narrative: AS DOOR WAS BEING CLOSED A FLT ATTENDANT INFORMED ME OF AN EMPTY SEAT THAT WAS MISSING PART OF ITS SEAT BELT. THE BELT SHOULD HAVE BEEN REPLACED PRIOR TO DEP BUT WAS INCORRECTLY DEFERRED TO BE REPLACED AT ORD. THE MEL WAS NOT REVIEWED UNTIL AFTER DEP AND WAS NOT APPLIED IN THIS CASE.

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.