AN MD80 HAD A LONG-TERM DEFERRAL ON THE R FLAP IDLER HINGE BOLT ROTATION CHK. NEEDED ANOTHER DEFERRED ITEM FOR 50 HR SEALANT REPLACEMENT IF FOUND MISSING.

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AT THE BEGINNING OF MY SHIFT; MY LEAD TOLD ME TO GO OUT TO ACFT BECAUSE THE FO HAD WRITTEN UP THE R-HAND FLAP IDLER HINGE BOLT MISSING SEALANT. HE ALSO GAVE ME A COPY OF THE LOG PAGE AND A COPY OF ENGINEERING AUTH. THE LOG PAGE SHOWED A RE-INSPECT LONG-TERM DEFERRAL FOR BOLT ROTATION AT NEXT 'A' CHK; WITH 1 RE-INSPECT SIGNED OFF WITH NO ROTATION. LOOKING AT THE ENGINEERING AUTH; PAGE 2; STEPS 7 AND 8; BOTH MY LEAD AND I THOUGHT THAT YOU COULD NOT ONLY DEFER THE BOLT SEALANT; BUT THAT IT WAS OPTIONAL WHETHER YOU INSTALLED IT AT ALL. I WENT TO THE ACFT; TALKED TO THE CREW AND SIGNED OFF THE LOG PAGE GENERATED BY THE FO; AS PREVIOUSLY DEFERRED. AFTER RETURNING TO THE OFFICE; WE CONTINUED LOOKING AT THE PAPERWORK AND REALIZED THE ENGINEERING AUTH CALLED FOR 2 DEFERRALS IF THE SEALANT WAS NOT ORIGINALLY INSTALLED; ONE TO APPLY SEALANT WITHIN 50 HRS AND ONE TO RE-INSPECT THE BOLT FOR ROTATION AT 'A' CHK. THE ORIGINAL TECHNICIAN HAD NOT COMPLETED THE PAPERWORK PROPERLY; AND WE MISREAD IT. BY THE TIME WE FIGURED THIS OUT; THE PLANE HAD DEPARTED. AT THIS POINT; THERE IS NO LONG-TERM DEFERRAL ON THE ACFT FOR SEALANT INSTALLATION AND IT IS OVER 50 HRS SINCE THE GENERATING LOG PAGE WAS SIGNED OFF.