A MD80's tail compartment temp hi light illuminated immediately after takeoff but the false warning ...

Narrative:

Tail compartment temperature high light after lift off. Ascertained it was a false warning. We did find the checklist confusing. After we finished the [emergency] items we proceeded to portion just below [on the same page] marked 'takeoff; climb; cruise; descent; or initial climb.' which begs the question when would anything beyond the procedure on [this] page be required? With the exception of taxi out every phase of flight would or should be taken care of under procedure mentioned above under the [emergency] items. We did end up over speeding the slats right at 280 KTS and corrected immediately. We never exceeded 280 KTS. I did run the after takeoff and climb check after takeoff and swore the leading edge blue light was extinguished which would signify that the slats were up. I remember looking at that light more than once and assumed the first officer retracted the slats as I was running the procedure for the tail compartment temperature high. Obviously I made a mistake since the light worked fine when we extended the slats for landing. After everything was well in hand I took the aircraft and had first officer run through the checklist for the tail compartment. He also thought it was like chasing rabbit trails. Maybe everyday line pilots should proofread new procedures or checklists prior to submitting to the FAA for final approval.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A MD80's Tail Compartment Temp Hi light illuminated immediately after takeoff but the false warning extinguished as the checklist was completed. The crew reported that the checklist was confusing and that as a result the distracted crew oversped the slats.

Narrative: Tail compartment temperature high light after lift off. Ascertained it was a false warning. We did find the checklist confusing. After we finished the [emergency] items we proceeded to portion just below [on the same page] marked 'Takeoff; climb; cruise; descent; or initial climb.' Which begs the question when would anything beyond the procedure on [this] page be required? With the exception of taxi out every phase of flight would or should be taken care of under procedure mentioned above under the [emergency] items. We did end up over speeding the slats right at 280 KTS and corrected immediately. We never exceeded 280 KTS. I did run the after takeoff and climb check after takeoff and swore the leading edge blue light was extinguished which would signify that the slats were up. I remember looking at that light more than once and assumed the First Officer retracted the slats as I was running the procedure for the tail compartment temperature high. Obviously I made a mistake since the light worked fine when we extended the slats for landing. After everything was well in hand I took the aircraft and had First Officer run through the checklist for the tail compartment. He also thought it was like chasing rabbit trails. Maybe everyday line pilots should proofread new procedures or checklists prior to submitting to the FAA for final approval.

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.

Attributes
ACN	902995
Time
Date	201008
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.ARTCC
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	MD-83
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Initial Climb Climb
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Engine Air Pneumatic Ducting
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Deviation - Speed All Types

A MD80's tail compartment temp hi light illuminated immediately after takeoff but the false warning extinguished as the checklist was completed. The crew reported that the checklist was confusing and that as a result the distracted crew oversped the slats.