Narrative:

I was the sic for flight abcd ZZZ-ZZZ1 in aircraft X. We may have had a non-conforming deferral of a piece of equipment.while preparing for departure; I found the clear plastic block which covers the light bulb in the microphone selector switch for the left VHF radio; missing on the first officer's audio selector panel (asp). There was no dmi sticker on the asp; nor was there a dmi listed on the flight release or inside the front cover of the current aircraft logbook (new logbook format). We called the local maintenance personnel up to the cockpit and requested that they swap the first officer's asp with the observer's asp; which they did; and then attempted to defer the observer's asp under the center VHF comm system (MEL item 23-xx-xx-xx); since there is no relief for the asp in either the company MEL nor in the master MEL. After speaking with maintenance control about the deferral; maintenance informed us that the first officer asp's left VHF microphone selector switch was already deferred under a nef deferral (MEL 25-xx-xx-xx via dmi#; I don't remember which); but was not recorded in our current logbook; nor listed on our flight release. Apparently there were several flights prior to ours with the deferral in place but not listed in the logbook. The captain then telephoned flight following to amend our flight release to add the dmi. Maintenance also informed us that they would have to swap the first officer and observer asps back to their original positions; which they did. We initially balked at this; since I would then have to push on the light bulb in the left VHF microphone selector switch to use the asp (talking to ATC prior to departure and after landing). We were assured by maintenance that maintenance control said it was a valid deferral; and we could use the asp. The asps were swapped back to their original locations and our logbook write-up regarding the first officer's asp left VHF microphone selector switch missing the plastic cover was marked out as 'entered in error.' we accepted the 'original' deferral and continued our departure preparations trying to depart on time.even with the time spent on this whole process we would have departed on-time; but were delayed when upon performing the preflight checklist I found that the window lock handle for my window would not remain in the 'locked' position. The window was completely closed in compliance with the preflight checklist; and the aft lower arm on the window was perpendicular to the window as required; along with the 'locked' indication displayed on the window lock indicator above the window. However; the window lock handle itself would not remain in what was originally the forward 'detent' in the locked position. The forward lock detent itself was removed to enable the opening of the first officer's window from outside the aircraft since the R1 door was deactivated in the freighter modification. Usually with this situation; even though there is no longer a lock detent to retain the handle in the 'locked': position; when the handle is moved into the 'locked' position; it remains there. In this case it didn't; and hung down below the 'locked': position by approximately 1/8 of an inch. We had maintenance come back up to look at this; and they determined that the window was fully closed and the handle position was acceptable; so we departed; but were now five minutes late.once enroute with the departure time pressure no longer a factor; the captain reviewed the dmi log in the prior logbook and found the dmi which maintenance control had referenced; and realized that maintenance had not carried it forward into the new logbook; even though they had remarked to maintenance control that it wasn't in our logbook. At that point we agreed that we needed to file an as soon as possible report on the situation.after blocking in uneventfully in ZZZ1; we began to discuss the situation further and questioned how maintenance could defer a microphone selector switch on a piece of required equipment (i.e. The asp). Upon reviewing the nef manual; we found no nef item which matched the deferral we had; and believe it may have been a non-conforming deferral. For ease of the erc's reference; cockpit related nef items (N-77 through N-109) are listed on nef manual pages nef-20 and nef-21.ultimately; we should have taken the delay in ZZZ; reviewed the nef manual prior to departure; and verified that everything was correct; including the transfer of the nef deferral from the prior logbook to the new logbook. Since this is an 'after action review'; I'm not sure we would have been able to depart had we done this; but at least it would have been completely hashed out before we flew.suggestions: one thing which might help preclude issues like this from occurring in the future would be to include the nef item number in the remarks section of the nef deferral; i.e. Dmi; M25-xx-xx-xx; nef N-86; hgs quilted cover missing.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Flight Crew reported an MEL applied at a previous station was incorrectly applied and the aircraft flew in revenue service.

Narrative: I was the SIC for Flight ABCD ZZZ-ZZZ1 in Aircraft X. We may have had a non-conforming deferral of a piece of equipment.While preparing for departure; I found the clear plastic block which covers the light bulb in the microphone selector switch for the left VHF radio; missing on the FO's audio selector panel (ASP). There was no DMI sticker on the ASP; nor was there a DMI listed on the flight release or inside the front cover of the current aircraft logbook (new logbook format). We called the local Maintenance Personnel up to the cockpit and requested that they swap the FO's ASP with the Observer's ASP; which they did; and then attempted to defer the Observer's ASP under the Center VHF Comm system (MEL item 23-XX-XX-XX); since there is no relief for the ASP in either the company MEL nor in the Master MEL. After speaking with Maintenance Control about the deferral; Maintenance informed us that the First Officer ASP's left VHF microphone selector switch was already deferred under a NEF deferral (MEL 25-XX-XX-XX via DMI#; I don't remember which); but was not recorded in our current logbook; nor listed on our flight release. Apparently there were several flights prior to ours with the deferral in place but not listed in the logbook. The Captain then telephoned Flight Following to amend our flight release to add the DMI. Maintenance also informed us that they would have to swap the First Officer and Observer ASPs back to their original positions; which they did. We initially balked at this; since I would then have to push on the light bulb in the left VHF microphone selector switch to use the ASP (talking to ATC prior to departure and after landing). We were assured by Maintenance that Maintenance Control said it was a valid deferral; and we could use the ASP. The ASPs were swapped back to their original locations and our logbook write-up regarding the First Officer's ASP left VHF microphone selector switch missing the plastic cover was marked out as 'entered in error.' We accepted the 'original' deferral and continued our departure preparations trying to depart on time.Even with the time spent on this whole process we would have departed on-time; but were delayed when upon performing the Preflight checklist I found that the window lock handle for my window would not remain in the 'locked' position. The window was completely closed in compliance with the Preflight checklist; and the aft lower arm on the window was perpendicular to the window as required; along with the 'LOCKED' indication displayed on the window lock indicator above the window. However; the window lock handle itself would not remain in what was originally the forward 'detent' in the locked position. The forward lock detent itself was removed to enable the opening of the First Officer's window from outside the aircraft since the R1 door was deactivated in the freighter modification. Usually with this situation; even though there is no longer a lock detent to retain the handle in the 'locked': position; when the handle is moved into the 'locked' position; it remains there. In this case it didn't; and hung down below the 'locked': position by approximately 1/8 of an inch. We had Maintenance come back up to look at this; and they determined that the window was fully closed and the handle position was acceptable; so we departed; but were now five minutes late.Once enroute with the departure time pressure no longer a factor; the Captain reviewed the DMI log in the prior logbook and found the DMI which Maintenance Control had referenced; and realized that Maintenance had not carried it forward into the new logbook; even though they had remarked to Maintenance Control that it wasn't in our logbook. At that point we agreed that we needed to file an ASAP report on the situation.After blocking in uneventfully in ZZZ1; we began to discuss the situation further and questioned how Maintenance could defer a microphone selector switch on a piece of required equipment (i.e. the ASP). Upon reviewing the NEF manual; we found no NEF item which matched the deferral we had; and believe it may have been a non-conforming deferral. For ease of the ERC's reference; cockpit related NEF items (N-77 through N-109) are listed on NEF Manual pages NEF-20 and NEF-21.Ultimately; we should have taken the delay in ZZZ; reviewed the NEF Manual prior to departure; and verified that everything was correct; including the transfer of the NEF deferral from the prior logbook to the new logbook. Since this is an 'after action review'; I'm not sure we would have been able to depart had we done this; but at least it would have been completely hashed out before we flew.Suggestions: One thing which might help preclude issues like this from occurring in the future would be to include the NEF item number in the remarks section of the NEF deferral; i.e. DMI; M25-XX-XX-XX; NEF N-86; HGS quilted cover missing.

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.