B737-400 WAS DISPATCHED WITH THE L PACK INOP AND THE APU BLEED AIR INOP PER THE MEL. FO RPTS HIGH WORKLOAD AND NO AIR CONDITIONING FOR PAX ON TKOFS AND LNDGS.
Synopsis
B737-400 WAS DISPATCHED WITH THE L PACK INOP AND THE APU BLEED AIR INOP PER THE MEL. FO RPTS HIGH WORKLOAD AND NO AIR CONDITIONING FOR PAX ON TKOFS AND LNDGS.
Narrative
ACFT HAD MULTIPLE MEL'S. ESSENTIALLY; L PACK INOP AND APU BLEED AIR INOP. WE QUESTIONED ALL THE MEL'S WITH DISPATCH. ESPECIALLY; SINCE WE HAD BEEN TOLD BEFORE THAT COMPANY POLICY WAS TO NOT SEND ACFT INTL WITHOUT APU BLEED AIR. GIVEN THE RECENT ATTN REGARDING PRESSURIZATION ISSUES; WE COULDN'T BELIEVE THAT WE WERE BEING SENT TO A FOREIGN COUNTRY JUST 1 PACK AWAY FROM YET ANOTHER INFLT DEPRESSURIZATION. BTWN ALL OF THE MEL'S THERE WERE DOZENS OF PAGES OF DIRECTIONS; SOME CONFLICTING. AFTER SEVERAL MINS AND FALSE STARTS; WE ARRIVED AT THE FOLLOWING POS: MEL 21-1 OPERATING PROCS CALL FOR APU BLEED ON. THIS WAS NOT POSSIBLE; AS WE HAD NO APU BLEED AIR. IT SAYS THAT BOTH ENG BLEEDS MUST BE OFF FOR TKOF. IT ALSO SAYS TO USE THE MEL PROC IN LIEU OF 'NO BLEED TKOF AND LNDG' FLT HANDBOOK PROC. SINCE MEL 21-1 STATES THAT ENG BLEEDS MUST BE OFF FOR TKOF AND LNDG AND APU BLEED AIR WAS NOT AVAILABLE; WE DEDUCED THAT THIS MEANT WE HAD TO DO AN UNPRESSURIZED TKOF AND LNDG. WE WENT TO THE FLT HANDBOOK AND PERFORMED 4 SEPARATE UNPRESSURIZED OPS ON 2 LEGS. PRIOR TO DEP; WE HAD TO DO AN EXTERNAL AIR START AT THE GATE. NO AIR CONDITIONING FOR OUR PAX. WE HAD TO BE PUSHED AWAY FROM THE GATE AND DO A XBLEED START FOR THE OTHER ENG. NO AIR CONDITIONING FOR OUR PAX. THEN WE HAD TO CONFIGURE FOR AN UNPRESSURIZED TKOF. NO AIR CONDITIONING FOR OUR PAX. AFTER DEP AT ZZZ1 PRIOR TO 2000 FT AGL; WE HAD TO CONFIGURE THE BLEEDS AND PACKS CORRECTLY FOR ENRTE OP. ON APCH TO ZZZ2 AT 1500 FT AGL. WE HAD TO CONFIGURE FOR AN UNPRESSURIZED LNDG. NO AIR CONDITIONING FOR OUR PAX. AFTER LNDG; WE HAD TO RECONFIGURE THE AIRPLANE FOR A FEW MINS OF GND OP WITH PACKS RUNNING TO COOL AIRPLANE. GND TIME; NO AIR CONDITIONING FOR PAX. PRIOR TO DEP; WE HAD TO DO AN EXTERNAL AIR START AT THE GATE. NO AIR CONDITIONING FOR OUR PAX. WE HAD TO BE PUSHED AWAY FROM THE GATE AND DO A XBLEED START FOR THE OTHER ENG. NO AIR CONDITIONING FOR OUR PAX. THEN WE HAD TO CONFIGURE FOR AN UNPRESSURIZED TKOF. NO AIR CONDITIONING FOR OUR PAX. AFTER DEP AT ZZZ2; BY 2000 FT AGL WE HAD TO CONFIGURE THE BLEEDS AND PACKS CORRECTLY FOR ENRTE OP. ON APCH TO ZZZ1 AT 1500 FT AGL; WE HAD TO CONFIGURE FOR AN UNPRESSURIZED LNDG. NO AIR CONDITIONING FOR OUR PAX. AFTER LNDG AT ZZZ1 WE HAD TO RECONFIGURE THE AIRPLANE FOR A FEW MINS OF GND OP WITH PACKS RUNNING TO COOL AIRPLANE. GND TIME AT ZZZ1; NO AIR CONDITIONING FOR PAX. I CAN'T TELL YOU HOW COMPLICATED THIS WAS. WITH THE EXTRA PRESSURE OF NOT WANTING TO CAUSE ANOTHER PRESSURIZATION INCIDENT; WE WENT BACK AND FORTH FOR QUITE SOME TIME UNTIL WE WERE ABLE TO FIGURE IT OUT. AND EVEN THEN; FRANKLY; WE WERE NOT COMPLETELY SURE THAT WE HAD IT ALL RIGHT. AS A FIX FOR THIS; I WOULD RESPECTFULLY RECOMMEND THE FOLLOWING: 1) DO NOT DISPATCH ACFT WITH BOTH A PACK INOP AND APU BLEED AIR INOP. 2) CLARIFY MEL 21-1 TO ADD A SMALL NOTE ABOUT WHAT TO DO IF APU BLEED AIR IS INOP.
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Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.