Narrative:

Captain had been flying with a first officer on his second trip off IOE and had been struggling with a problem he had with speaking and understanding english. In addition; the first officer exhibited stark deficiencies in flying and radio skills. The captain received the release for [flight]; and noticed MEL 38-xx-xx-X; lav waste water; and also noticed that it had been cleared on the [discrepancy log] earlier in the day. The captain became distracted with supervising the new first officer and failed to call dispatch to remove the MEL from the release paper work. As a result; when the receiving check was called for and the maintenance log was called 'checked;' the captain made a false statement. The captain and first officer did not discuss the maintenance log against the release; and thus did not share the same mental model. The captain was struggling with a new first officer unable to speak and understand english clearly. Hence; because of the captain's distraction and failure to mitigate the threat; the flight dispatched with an MEL on the release when it was cleared in the [discrepancy log] earlier in the day.we became complacent as an airline when we had first officers with [X]+ years of experience. This captain became used to having first officers who caught threats like these when they were missed and corrected the issues on a daily basis. Unfortunately; in our attempt to fill seats with new hires and upgrade inexperienced captains; it is now imperative that captains take their time and exercise extra vigilance with new inexperienced first officers and focus on items that were taken for granted as completed in the past. It is also crucial that pilot recruiters be more selective in screening pilot applicants for experience; basic pilot skills; and the ability to 'speak.'

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Air Carrier Captain reported that being preoccupied helping an inexperienced First Officer caused the flight to depart without proper documentation.

Narrative: Captain had been flying with a First Officer on his second trip off IOE and had been struggling with a problem he had with speaking and understanding English. In addition; the First Officer exhibited stark deficiencies in flying and radio skills. The Captain received the release for [flight]; and noticed MEL 38-XX-XX-X; Lav Waste Water; and also noticed that it had been cleared on the [discrepancy log] earlier in the day. The Captain became distracted with supervising the new First Officer and failed to call Dispatch to remove the MEL from the release paper work. As a result; when the Receiving Check was called for and the Maintenance Log was called 'Checked;' the Captain made a false statement. The Captain and First Officer did not discuss the maintenance log against the release; and thus did not share the same mental model. The Captain was struggling with a new First Officer unable to speak and understand English clearly. Hence; because of the Captain's distraction and failure to mitigate the threat; the flight dispatched with an MEL on the release when it was cleared in the [discrepancy log] earlier in the day.We became complacent as an airline when we had first officers with [X]+ years of experience. This Captain became used to having First Officers who caught threats like these when they were missed and corrected the issues on a daily basis. Unfortunately; in our attempt to fill seats with new hires and upgrade inexperienced Captains; it is now imperative that Captains take their time and exercise extra vigilance with new inexperienced First Officers and focus on items that were taken for granted as completed in the past. It is also crucial that pilot recruiters be more selective in screening pilot applicants for experience; basic pilot skills; and the ability to 'speak.'

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.