Narrative:

I dispatched a flight from mmun. This aircraft had MEL 25-61-01A which is a portable ELT. This particular MEL states 'may be inoperative provided no extended overwater operations are conducted.' under operation procedures for the MEL; it further states 'aircraft may not conduct extended overwater operations; however it may be eligible for limited overwater operations. In order to comply with this MEL; the flight must be routed in a way so it does not exceed 30 minutes flying time in still air with one engine inoperative; or 162 NM from the nearest shoreline; whichever is less. I dispatched the flight. This route did not comply with the MEL and I; nor the flight crew; caught this error. I made the assumption that the aircraft was allowed to fly the standard route based on the fact that it had already flown with that MEL; and after I had spoken with the safety officer; confirming that it only restricted ETOPS operations. I did reference the MEL manual; but failed to read the operations procedures which outlines the restrictions.if it is a possibility with dispatch software; a safeguard that would prevent a flight plan from calculating if it was in violation of an MEL restriction would prevent this from happening in the future (much like how a flight plan will not calculate if you attempt to plan a non-overwater a/C on an overwater route). I have reason to believe that numerous people missed this restriction due to the fact that we are not ETOPS qualified. As a result; assumptions are made that there are no operations procedures; that it does not pertain to us; and they then fail to continue reading past the MEL to see if any action needs to be taken. Perhaps a notification can be incorporated into dispatch monitor when running a flight plan with this or similar mels. For example; a pack MEL will notify you that you must remain at a certain flight level and that there is a fuel penalty. These notifications appear on the flight summary page before taking you to the flight plan. The note could say something along the lines of; 'flight is restricted to limited overwater operations due MEL 25-61-01A.' also for the dispatch group; reiterate the importance of reading an MEL in it's entirety via training or an ops memo.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A Dispatcher realized after the fact that an A320 with an MEL restricting extended overwater flights; was routed with a flight segment over the Gulf of Mexico.

Narrative: I dispatched a flight from MMUN. This aircraft had MEL 25-61-01A which is a portable ELT. This particular MEL states 'May be inoperative provided no Extended Overwater operations are conducted.' Under Operation Procedures for the MEL; it further states 'Aircraft may NOT conduct extended overwater operations; however it may be eligible for limited overwater operations. In order to comply with this MEL; the flight must be routed in a way so it does not exceed 30 minutes flying time in still air with one engine inoperative; or 162 NM from the nearest shoreline; whichever is less. I dispatched the flight. This route did not comply with the MEL and I; nor the flight crew; caught this error. I made the assumption that the aircraft was allowed to fly the standard route based on the fact that it had already flown with that MEL; and after I had spoken with the Safety Officer; confirming that it only restricted ETOPS operations. I did reference the MEL manual; but failed to read the Operations Procedures which outlines the restrictions.If it is a possibility with dispatch software; a safeguard that would prevent a flight plan from calculating if it was in violation of an MEL restriction would prevent this from happening in the future (much like how a flight plan will not calculate if you attempt to plan a non-overwater A/C on an overwater route). I have reason to believe that numerous people missed this restriction due to the fact that we are not ETOPS qualified. As a result; assumptions are made that there are no Operations Procedures; that it does not pertain to us; and they then fail to continue reading past the MEL to see if any action needs to be taken. Perhaps a notification can be incorporated into dispatch monitor when running a flight plan with this or similar MELs. For example; a pack MEL will notify you that you must remain at a certain flight level and that there is a fuel penalty. These notifications appear on the flight summary page before taking you to the flight plan. The note could say something along the lines of; 'Flight is restricted to limited overwater operations due MEL 25-61-01A.' Also for the Dispatch group; reiterate the importance of reading an MEL in it's entirety via training or an Ops Memo.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.