A B737-700 WITH A RPT OF RUDDER STANDBY LIGHT ON INFLT. ON ATTEMPTING TO DEFER THE ITEM PER THE MEL; FOUND CONFLICTING MEL WORDING AND NUMBERS FOR THE REQUIRED RUDDER MODIFICATIONS.

Date: 2007-01 · Aircraft: B737-700 · Phase: ground

Anomalies: aircraft-equipment-problem-less-severe|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-published-material-policy|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-far

Synopsis

A B737-700 WITH A RPT OF RUDDER STANDBY LIGHT ON INFLT. ON ATTEMPTING TO DEFER THE ITEM PER THE MEL; FOUND CONFLICTING MEL WORDING AND NUMBERS FOR THE REQUIRED RUDDER MODIFICATIONS.

Narrative

I WAS CALLED ABOUT A STANDBY RUDDER ON LIGHT COMING ON DURING FLT AND IT WAS NOT ON WHILE ON THE GND. I WANTED TO APPLY MEL 27-21 TO THE ACFT. I CHKED CODE TO CHK THAT THE RUDDER ENHANCEMENT MODIFICATION HAD BEEN COMPLIED WITH AND ACCORDING TO COMPUTER THE MODIFICATION HAS BEEN COMPLIED WITH. THE PROB IS THAT BOEING SVC BULLETIN THAT IS REQUIRED TO BE COMPLIED WITH TO USE THIS MEL HAD NOT BEEN COMPLIED WITH. THIS IS THE SVC BULLETIN FOR THE RUDDER CTL RODS NOT THE RUDDER ENHANCEMENT MODIFICATION. TO USE THIS MEL BOTH THE ENHANCEMENT MODIFICATION AS WELL AS THE CTL ROD MODIFICATION MUST BE COMPLIED WITH. WHEN CHKING IN COMPUTER FOR COMPLIANCE WE TRACK USING ACFT CHANGE ORDER NUMBERS NOT THE ACTUAL SVC BULLETIN NUMBERS. I THOUGHT AT THE TIME THAT THE ONLY THING REQUIRED FOR THE MEL WAS THE ENHANCEMENT MODIFICATION. THIS IS NOT A VERY COMMON MEL THAT I USE. THE MEL TELLS YOU TO MAKE SURE THE FULL ENHANCEMENT MODIFICATION HAS BEEN COMPLETED AND GIVES YOU THE SVC BULLETIN NUMBER FOR THE RUDDER CTL RODS; WHY CAN'T THE MEL BE CORRECTED TO READ EITHER BOTH SVC BULLETIN NUMBERS OR USE THE WORDING FOR BOTH BUT NOT THE WORDS FOR ONE AND THE SVC BULLETIN NUMBER FOR THE OTHER. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: THE RPTR STATED THE MEL REF FOR DEFERRAL OF THE STANDBY RUDDER LIGHT REQUIRES THAT 2 MODIFICATIONS BE ACCOMPLISHED. THE MEL GIVES THE BOEING SVC BULLETIN NUMBER FOR ONE MODIFICATION AND THEN DESCRIBES THE SECOND MODIFICATION USING WORDS; NO SVC BULLETIN NUMBERS. CHKING WITH THE MAINT COMPUTER ONLY LISTS THE MODIFICATIONS IN THE NORMAL MANNER BY ACFT CHANGE ORDERS. AN ACFT CHANGE ORDER IS THE BOEING SVC BULLETIN AFTER ENGINEERING WRITES UP THE PAPERWORK AND JOB CARDS AS IS COMMON PRACTICE THROUGHOUT THE INDUSTRY. THE MEL HAS BEEN REVISED TO SHOW ACFT CHANGE ORDERS TO MATCH THE MAINT COMPUTER.

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Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.