FLT CREW OF B777 AND MAINT CTLR REACT IMPROPERLY TO ENG START FAILURE. FAILED TO RECOGNIZE THE START ANOMALY REQUIRED MAINT ATTN.

Narrative

DURING ENG START; L ENG FLAMED OUT. STATUS MESSAGE INDICATED FUEL VALVE L. SINCE IT WAS A STATUS MESSAGE; WE CONFERRED WITH THE MAINT MAN ON THE HEADSET AND RESTARTED THE ENG. AFTER A STABLE START; I CALLED MAINT CTL USING SATCOM. WE; TOGETHER; MADE THE DECISION TO CONTINUE THE FLT. THE ONLY CHKLIST GENERATED ON EICAS WAS ENG FAIL L. AT HOME; I LOOKED AT THE FLT MANUAL AND REVIEWED THE ENG FUEL VALVE L CHKLIST; WHICH HAD NOT BEEN DISPLAYED ON EICAS. THIS INFO LEADS ME TO BELIEVE I SHOULD NOT HAVE RESTARTED THE ENG. MAINT SHOULD HAVE INVESTIGATED. SUPPLEMENTAL INFO FROM ACN 627133: THE L ENG APPEARED TO SHUT ITSELF DOWN WITHOUT ATTEMPTING AN AUTO-RESTART. AT SOME POINT THE MESSAGE 'ENG FUEL VALVE L' WAS ILLUMINATED WHICH WAS EVENTUALLY FOLLOWED BY AN ENG FAIL MESSAGE. MAX TEMP DURING START WAS JUST OVER 400 DEGS. WE THEN DISPLAYED THE FUEL SYNOPTIC WHICH INDICATED AN AMBER 'X' LOCATED AT A FORWARD LOCATION ON THE L ENG. COMBINED WITH THE MESSAGE; WE DETERMINED THAT THE FUEL VALVE POS WAS IN DISAGREEMENT. DURING THE SECOND START ATTEMPT; THE FUEL VALVE WENT TO A CLOSED POS AND THEN OPEN; RESULTING IN A NORMAL START WITH NORMAL INDICATIONS. CONFERRING WITH SEVERAL PARTIES AFTERWARD; IT WAS DETERMINED THAT PERHAPS THE DECISION TO CONTINUE WAS IN ERROR; RESULTING IN A REVIEW OF THE PROB AND THE GENERATION OF THIS RPT.