An A319 flight crew reported that they declared an emergency and returned to the departure airport because the oil quantity decreased to 2.2 quarts after takeoff. They did not remember until later that the oil quantity gauge was MEL'ed inoperative.
Synopsis
An A319 flight crew reported that they declared an emergency and returned to the departure airport because the oil quantity decreased to 2.2 quarts after takeoff. They did not remember until later that the oil quantity gauge was MEL'ed inoperative.
Narrative
Watched #2 oil quantity drop from 19 quarts to 2.2. Stopped climb; looked in flight manual for guidance and sent ACARS to Dispatch. Oil press was lower than #1 and temperature was slightly elevated. We elected to return to the departure airport. It wasn't until we talked to the mechanics that I remembered the Oil Quantity #2 was deferred inoperative. Dispatch didn't figure it out until we were in final. My expectation during preflight was the readings were to be XXX and not actual numbers. I know what I read it didn't get recalled in the moment. Better would have been to disconnect the canon plug. The return was uneventful; run just as we were trained. I got dirty early and burned off as much fuel as possible to land at maximum landing weight. Reviewed Over Weight checklist; approach and go-around procedure and runway exit plan (shutdown #2 on taxiway) We were slightly over maximum landing weigh but Maintenance was not concerned. Score 9.8 for handling event; 2.1 for memory disconnect.
Second reporter narrative
Climbing out of approximately FL200; we noticed right engine oil quantity dropping; bottomed out at around 3 quarts. Captain asked for vectors back to the departure airport. I pointed out that pressure and temperature were OK; the decision was made to return; an emergency was declared; checklists were run (especially the Over Weight landing) landed at 140;000 LBS. During descent; oil quantity increased to normal; uneventful landing and taxi to the gate.
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Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.