A B777-200 TCAS was discovered to be inop on preflight. Company authorized flight to a us oceanic ma...

Attributes
ACN	834516
Time
Date	200905
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B777-200
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Parked
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	TCAS Equipment
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Not Flying
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 25 Flight Crew Total 16000 Flight Crew Type 1800
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe Deviation - Procedural FAR Deviation - Procedural MEL

Narrative:

Mechanic found an inop TCAS system prior to our pre-flight. He capped the circuit breaker and wrote up the upper antennae. The MEL stated we could go from a us port to another us port. Dispatch relayed the intent of the MEL was to get the aircraft back to a maintenance base. We could not see intent written into the MEL. Finally the company wrote a side letter that allowed us to continue to our destination. I was not made aware of the change in opinion that let us proceed to our destination. I also heard that this is a continuing problem that has caused other delays. I just want to verify that the MEL is properly written and no other interpretations will cause this problem again.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B777-200 TCAS was discovered to be inop on preflight. Company authorized flight to a US oceanic maintenance station. The MEL specified release from one US port to another US port for maintenance purposes.

Narrative: Mechanic found an inop TCAS system prior to our pre-flight. He capped the circuit breaker and wrote up the upper antennae. The MEL stated we could go from a US port to another US port. Dispatch relayed the intent of the MEL was to get the aircraft back to a maintenance base. We could not see intent written into the MEL. Finally the company wrote a side letter that allowed us to continue to our destination. I was not made aware of the change in opinion that let us proceed to our destination. I also heard that this is a continuing problem that has caused other delays. I just want to verify that the MEL is properly written and no other interpretations will cause this problem again.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.

A B777-200 TCAS was discovered to be inop on preflight. Company authorized flight to a us oceanic maintenance station. The MEL specified release from one us port to another us port for maintenance purposes.