Narrative:

Upon arrival at the FBO I noticed that our aircraft was on the FBO ramp. [I had] received an email from either the chief pilot or the maintenance controller stating something about that embraer had delivered our aircraft to us; and they believed the rudder gust lock couldn't be engaged and that the crew should defer the rudder gust lock before departure. I called the maintenance controller and he mentioned something about sending in the MEL 'and we'll have you guys on your way.' I walked out to the aircraft and quickly assessed the gust lock situation. Sure enough; the gust lock pin was installed and the rudder pedals were not locked. Now please note that part of my routine as for my personal pre flight procedures; I wait until my pre flight is complete before calling maintenance control with any and all issues found. So now I am aware of the gust lock situation and I continue my pre flight. The next issue I find is an expired mexican authorization form that is required for our flight into mexico. So my first call is to the chief pilot; and it goes from there to what seemed like dozens of folks from almost every other department to get some info. I even had my chief pilot on the phone regarding this. Suffice it to say I was very focused on this issue. I've heard bad things about mexican jails and I didn't want to have any first hand experiences. Finally; the problem [was] solved with the mexican forms. I then sent in the MEL concerning the gust lock. In short order I received the typical deferral message from maintenance with all of the usual information including a bar code indicating to me; a proper maintenance deferral. With all that had been going on earlier and our departure time looming; and remembering the maintenance controller saying what he did; I put researching the MEL at the back of my mind and subsequently forgot to do so. Yesterday I received an email and then a phone call advising me that there is an issue with that MEL submission. From that notification I learned that a maintenance procedure was required to make that MEL legal and correct. I looked up the MEL for myself and sure enough; there it was. Obviously the maintenance procedure was not completed before departure.I blame no one for my mistakes and or oversights. [I need to] #1; slow down. #2; stay focused. #3; don't stress. I [failed] all [three of those] that morning. Again; I blame myself. However; I would like to mention now that lately; life on the road is more demanding than ever. There seemed to be a time when the crews had time to meet the demands of the day. And there seemed to be a time when the other departments did their jobs correctly and in a timely fashion. Now; I feel the opposite is true. There is more duty during the day with what seems like less time to do them. Less personnel [at headquarters] to help. Things are left undone only to let the crews figure it out for themselves. There's a feeling among the crews is that headquarters doesn't care about the crew lately. It doesn't matter how true it is; the fact of the matter is; that's the sentiment. The mexican forms issue I had to deal with. Really? Was that necessary? How many times throughout the week do crews find this (sort of thing) and [have to] call headquarters to resolve this? There could have been a temporary letter in the special binder in front of the expired document to offer some guidance. But no. One more thing I have to find; and figure out. 20 more people to call. So much going on in the daily life of the crews! Everything seems so compressed. A little help here..... Please!

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A fractional carrier flight crew expressed concerns that too much administrative detail is allowed to be passed on to flight crews. In the instant case a flight was conducted without proper resolution of an MEL item due to distractions with foreign documentation requirements.

Narrative: Upon arrival at the FBO I noticed that our aircraft was on the FBO ramp. [I had] received an email from either the Chief Pilot or the maintenance controller stating something about that Embraer had delivered our aircraft to us; and they believed the rudder gust lock couldn't be engaged and that the crew should defer the rudder gust lock before departure. I called the Maintenance controller and he mentioned something about sending in the MEL 'and we'll have you guys on your way.' I walked out to the aircraft and quickly assessed the gust lock situation. Sure enough; the gust lock pin was installed and the rudder pedals were not locked. Now please note that part of my routine as for my personal pre flight procedures; I wait until my pre flight is complete before calling maintenance control with any and all issues found. So now I am aware of the gust lock situation and I continue my pre flight. The next issue I find is an expired Mexican authorization form that is required for our flight into Mexico. So my first call is to the Chief Pilot; and it goes from there to what seemed like dozens of folks from almost every other department to get some info. I even had my chief pilot on the phone regarding this. Suffice it to say I was very focused on this issue. I've heard bad things about Mexican jails and I didn't want to have any first hand experiences. Finally; the problem [was] solved with the Mexican forms. I then sent in the MEL concerning the Gust lock. In short order I received the typical deferral message from maintenance with all of the usual information including a bar code indicating to me; a proper maintenance deferral. With all that had been going on earlier and our departure time looming; and remembering the Maintenance controller saying what he did; I put researching the MEL at the back of my mind and subsequently forgot to do so. Yesterday I received an email and then a phone call advising me that there is an issue with that MEL submission. From that notification I learned that a maintenance procedure was required to make that MEL legal and correct. I looked up the MEL for myself and sure enough; there it was. Obviously the maintenance procedure was not completed before departure.I blame no one for my mistakes and or oversights. [I need to] #1; slow down. #2; Stay focused. #3; don't stress. I [failed] all [three of those] that morning. Again; I blame myself. HOWEVER; I would like to mention now that lately; life on the road is more demanding than ever. There seemed to be a time when the crews had time to meet the demands of the day. And there seemed to be a time when the other departments did their jobs correctly and in a timely fashion. Now; I feel the opposite is true. There is more duty during the day with what seems like less time to do them. Less personnel [at headquarters] to help. Things are left undone only to let the crews figure it out for themselves. There's a feeling among the crews is that headquarters doesn't care about the crew lately. It doesn't matter how true it is; the fact of the matter is; that's the sentiment. The Mexican forms issue I had to deal with. Really? Was that necessary? How many times throughout the week do crews find this (sort of thing) and [have to] call HQ to resolve this? There could have been a temporary letter in the special binder in front of the expired document to offer some guidance. But no. One more thing I have to find; and figure out. 20 more people to call. So much going on in the daily life of the crews! Everything seems so compressed. A little help here..... PLEASE!

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site 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.