Narrative:

Shortly after departing dayton airport, our flight lost an access panel on the upper aft right engine pylon. Its loss was noted by a passenger and reported to the flight crew. As captain flying the leg, I reported the loss to our station operations personnel via voice radio at dayton. The panel was found on an access road by dayton police and returned to maintenance. Upon landing at akron, I inspected the aircraft, found no damage, and then called our maintenance facility at pit to determine continued airworthiness of the aircraft. Research of the MEL/cdl revealed no applicable restrictions for weight or speed for one such missing item (MEL 54-201) so I requested to be transferred to pit system's dispatch. The dispatcher told me to write the item in the logbook and that she would send me an amended release with the applicable MEL notated via ACARS. Subsequently we departed akron and returned to dayton and at dayton maintenance cleared the logbook and reinstalled the panel, returning the aircraft to a normal airworthy status with no MEL's. The problem is that we departed akron without receiving an amended release showing the missing access panel on the MEL, although the logbook did show the MEL status of the flight. I suspect the source of the problem was a breakdown in communication between maintenance, dispatch and crew, compounded by the difficulty of communicating out of akron that particular day because of construction at the airport which had torn up several telephone lines.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: MLG DEPARTS WITH ACFT LOGBOOK IMPROPERLY FILLED OUT AND WITHOUT AN AMENDED RELEASE SHOWING THE MINIMUM EQUIPMENT LIST ITEM INVOLVED.

Narrative: SHORTLY AFTER DEPARTING DAYTON ARPT, OUR FLT LOST AN ACCESS PANEL ON THE UPPER AFT RIGHT ENGINE PYLON. ITS LOSS WAS NOTED BY A PAX AND REPORTED TO THE FLT CREW. AS CAPT FLYING THE LEG, I REPORTED THE LOSS TO OUR STATION OPERATIONS PERSONNEL VIA VOICE RADIO AT DAYTON. THE PANEL WAS FOUND ON AN ACCESS ROAD BY DAYTON POLICE AND RETURNED TO MAINT. UPON LNDG AT AKRON, I INSPECTED THE ACFT, FOUND NO DAMAGE, AND THEN CALLED OUR MAINT FAC AT PIT TO DETERMINE CONTINUED AIRWORTHINESS OF THE ACFT. RESEARCH OF THE MEL/CDL REVEALED NO APPLICABLE RESTRICTIONS FOR WEIGHT OR SPEED FOR ONE SUCH MISSING ITEM (MEL 54-201) SO I REQUESTED TO BE TRANSFERRED TO PIT SYSTEM'S DISPATCH. THE DISPATCHER TOLD ME TO WRITE THE ITEM IN THE LOGBOOK AND THAT SHE WOULD SEND ME AN AMENDED RELEASE WITH THE APPLICABLE MEL NOTATED VIA ACARS. SUBSEQUENTLY WE DEPARTED AKRON AND RETURNED TO DAYTON AND AT DAYTON MAINT CLRED THE LOGBOOK AND REINSTALLED THE PANEL, RETURNING THE ACFT TO A NORMAL AIRWORTHY STATUS WITH NO MEL'S. THE PROBLEM IS THAT WE DEPARTED AKRON WITHOUT RECEIVING AN AMENDED RELEASE SHOWING THE MISSING ACCESS PANEL ON THE MEL, ALTHOUGH THE LOGBOOK DID SHOW THE MEL STATUS OF THE FLT. I SUSPECT THE SOURCE OF THE PROBLEM WAS A BREAKDOWN IN COM BETWEEN MAINT, DISPATCH AND CREW, COMPOUNDED BY THE DIFFICULTY OF COMMUNICATING OUT OF AKRON THAT PARTICULAR DAY BECAUSE OF CONSTRUCTION AT THE ARPT WHICH HAD TORN UP SEVERAL TELEPHONE LINES.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 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.