Narrative:

Upon arrival of flight to oak, inbound captain had problems with the first officer's compass card oscillating in the HSI. The ground time for the aircraft was approximately 55 mins, there were multiple discrepancies and the new system for using the MEL (on-line) is still quite difficult to use. The discrepancy required more time than I had to give due to the minimum down time so I decided to defer the write-up. The MEL reference that was used was for the deferring of the first officer's HSI was the to/from indicators which later, after reading into the MEL further, I read a note stating that the compass card of the HSI must operate normally. I did not notice this until the aircraft had left this station and arrived at the next station and the flight crew for the outbound flight refused the aircraft the flight crew was right in refusing the aircraft but am still in awe how I along with the outbound crew from oak and maintenance operations all failed on our checks and balances. The final action for the occurrence was that the #2 dg at the downward station was changed and the aircraft was airworthy again.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B727 CARGO ACFT IS RELEASED FOR FLT BY MAINT UNDER AN MEL DEFERRAL NUMBER THAT WAS INCORRECT. FLT LEFT ILLEGALLY FROM OAK, CA.

Narrative: UPON ARR OF FLT TO OAK, INBOUND CAPT HAD PROBS WITH THE FO'S COMPASS CARD OSCILLATING IN THE HSI. THE GND TIME FOR THE ACFT WAS APPROX 55 MINS, THERE WERE MULTIPLE DISCREPANCIES AND THE NEW SYS FOR USING THE MEL (ON-LINE) IS STILL QUITE DIFFICULT TO USE. THE DISCREPANCY REQUIRED MORE TIME THAN I HAD TO GIVE DUE TO THE MINIMUM DOWN TIME SO I DECIDED TO DEFER THE WRITE-UP. THE MEL REF THAT WAS USED WAS FOR THE DEFERRING OF THE FO'S HSI WAS THE TO/FROM INDICATORS WHICH LATER, AFTER READING INTO THE MEL FURTHER, I READ A NOTE STATING THAT THE COMPASS CARD OF THE HSI MUST OPERATE NORMALLY. I DID NOT NOTICE THIS UNTIL THE ACFT HAD LEFT THIS STATION AND ARRIVED AT THE NEXT STATION AND THE FLC FOR THE OUTBOUND FLT REFUSED THE ACFT THE FLC WAS RIGHT IN REFUSING THE ACFT BUT AM STILL IN AWE HOW I ALONG WITH THE OUTBOUND CREW FROM OAK AND MAINT OPS ALL FAILED ON OUR CHKS AND BALS. THE FINAL ACTION FOR THE OCCURRENCE WAS THAT THE #2 DG AT THE DOWNWARD STATION WAS CHANGED AND THE ACFT WAS AIRWORTHY AGAIN.

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.