Narrative:

MEL 36-11 (engine bleed air sys) limited us to FL310 and restricted from flight into icing. At FL310 sat was -36C icing is defined as visible moisture and temp >+10C or <-40C. Dispatch filed us with minimum fuel at M.70. We couldn't climb to colder air because of MEL; we couldn't descend to warmer air because of minimum fuel. I didn't know about the MEL in ops so I didn't check closely for cloud coverage on route; I also didn't know about the temps at altitude being so warm. Once at aircraft I failed to think about icing because of our southern destination.don't dispatch an aircraft with a bleed inop at any time because of altitude and temp limits for icing.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A319 Captain reports being dispatched with MEL restricting flight above FL310 and into icing conditions. Flight was also dispatched with minimum fuel; which prevented descent into warmer air due to increased fuel consumption.

Narrative: MEL 36-11 (engine bleed air sys) limited us to FL310 and restricted from flight into icing. At FL310 SAT was -36C icing is defined as visible moisture and temp >+10C or <-40C. Dispatch filed us with minimum fuel at M.70. We couldn't climb to colder air because of MEL; we couldn't descend to warmer air because of minimum fuel. I didn't know about the MEL in ops so I didn't check closely for cloud coverage on route; I also didn't know about the temps at altitude being so warm. Once at aircraft I failed to think about icing because of our southern destination.Don't dispatch an aircraft with a bleed inop at any time because of altitude and temp limits for icing.

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.