Narrative:

We were operating a scheduled part 121 cargo flight from vienna, austria to cologne, germany with an en route stop at nuremburg, germany. During his preflight inspection on the ramp at vie, my so informed me that the white position light located on the l-hand wingtip (facing rearward) was inoperative. I was very busy with several things involving deice coordination, en route clrncs, on-time departure concerns, etc. I considered this particular flight engineer to be extremely competent and so I requested him to review the MEL and brief me on go/no-go status. He did so, and informed me that this item could be MEL'ed. A contract mechanic was in the cockpit and he agreed with this, and proceeded to enter a sign- off in the logbook for this item, referencing the MEL. I did not personally read the MEL reference as has been my habit, but accepted the position of the flight engineer and mechanic. Our company procedure allows us to depart without a control number from maintenance control and get the number en route, if the problem is discovered within 30 mins of departure, and all other logbook/MEL procedures have been complied with. We departed for nuremburg and requested the item control number via ACARS that this item was a no-go item for the MEL for night operations. We were told to overfly nuremburg and proceeded to cologne, as no parts were available in nuremburg. Result of this was that I operated the aircraft in an unairworthy condition and caused the company to have to dispatch an additional aircraft to nuremburg.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B727 WAS DISPATCHED WITH THE L WING AFT LIGHT INOP AND DEFERRED IN NON COMPLIANCE WITH THE MEL.

Narrative: WE WERE OPERATING A SCHEDULED PART 121 CARGO FLT FROM VIENNA, AUSTRIA TO COLOGNE, GERMANY WITH AN ENRTE STOP AT NUREMBURG, GERMANY. DURING HIS PREFLT INSPECTION ON THE RAMP AT VIE, MY SO INFORMED ME THAT THE WHITE POS LIGHT LOCATED ON THE L-HAND WINGTIP (FACING REARWARD) WAS INOP. I WAS VERY BUSY WITH SEVERAL THINGS INVOLVING DEICE COORD, ENRTE CLRNCS, ON-TIME DEP CONCERNS, ETC. I CONSIDERED THIS PARTICULAR FE TO BE EXTREMELY COMPETENT AND SO I REQUESTED HIM TO REVIEW THE MEL AND BRIEF ME ON GO/NO-GO STATUS. HE DID SO, AND INFORMED ME THAT THIS ITEM COULD BE MEL'ED. A CONTRACT MECH WAS IN THE COCKPIT AND HE AGREED WITH THIS, AND PROCEEDED TO ENTER A SIGN- OFF IN THE LOGBOOK FOR THIS ITEM, REFING THE MEL. I DID NOT PERSONALLY READ THE MEL REF AS HAS BEEN MY HABIT, BUT ACCEPTED THE POS OF THE FE AND MECH. OUR COMPANY PROC ALLOWS US TO DEPART WITHOUT A CTL NUMBER FROM MAINT CTL AND GET THE NUMBER ENRTE, IF THE PROB IS DISCOVERED WITHIN 30 MINS OF DEP, AND ALL OTHER LOGBOOK/MEL PROCS HAVE BEEN COMPLIED WITH. WE DEPARTED FOR NUREMBURG AND REQUESTED THE ITEM CTL NUMBER VIA ACARS THAT THIS ITEM WAS A NO-GO ITEM FOR THE MEL FOR NIGHT OPS. WE WERE TOLD TO OVERFLY NUREMBURG AND PROCEEDED TO COLOGNE, AS NO PARTS WERE AVAILABLE IN NUREMBURG. RESULT OF THIS WAS THAT I OPERATED THE ACFT IN AN UNAIRWORTHY CONDITION AND CAUSED THE COMPANY TO HAVE TO DISPATCH AN ADDITIONAL ACFT TO NUREMBURG.

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.