An air carrier medium large transport took off with a dispatch release that had been canceled.

Attributes
ACN	272123
Time
Date	199405
Day	Fri
Local Time Of Day	1801 To 2400
Place
Locale Reference	airport : ewr
State Reference	NJ
Altitude	agl bound lower : 0 agl bound upper : 0
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Controlling Facilities	tower : mia
Operator	common carrier : air carrier
Make Model Name	Commercial Fixed Wing
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	climbout : takeoff ground : preflight ground other : taxi
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : captain oversight : pic
Qualification	pilot : atp
Experience	flight time last 90 days : 100 flight time total : 12000
ASRS Report	272123
Person 2
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : first officer
Qualification	pilot : commercial pilot : instrument
Events
Anomaly	aircraft equipment problem : less severe non adherence : published procedure non adherence : far other anomaly other
Independent Detector	other other : unspecified
Resolutory Action	aircraft : equipment problem dissipated other
Consequence	Other
Supplementary
Air Traffic Incident	Pilot Deviation

Narrative:

Ground sees smoke and fluid from #1 engine prior to leaving ramp area. Call maintenance. Shut down engines. They find no problems. Start engines up, taxi out. On tower frequency taxiing out, tower says, 'bad news, think your flight is canceled.' taxi out of line up. Call company 130.97 told twice 'flight not canceled,' returned to line up. Finally in 'position and hold' for takeoff tower calls, company wants you to call them. In position for takeoff, we call company 130.97 again. Were told we do not have a valid release. We said ok and took off. I understood this to be our release time had expired (1 hour) from push time, which we were still legal, but in turn our scheduling department had indeed canceled our entire dispatch release. Miscom.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: AN ACR MLG TOOK OFF WITH A DISPATCH RELEASE THAT HAD BEEN CANCELED.

Narrative: GND SEES SMOKE AND FLUID FROM #1 ENG PRIOR TO LEAVING RAMP AREA. CALL MAINT. SHUT DOWN ENGS. THEY FIND NO PROBS. START ENGS UP, TAXI OUT. ON TWR FREQ TAXIING OUT, TWR SAYS, 'BAD NEWS, THINK YOUR FLT IS CANCELED.' TAXI OUT OF LINE UP. CALL COMPANY 130.97 TOLD TWICE 'FLT NOT CANCELED,' RETURNED TO LINE UP. FINALLY IN 'POS AND HOLD' FOR TKOF TWR CALLS, COMPANY WANTS YOU TO CALL THEM. IN POS FOR TKOF, WE CALL COMPANY 130.97 AGAIN. WERE TOLD WE DO NOT HAVE A VALID RELEASE. WE SAID OK AND TOOK OFF. I UNDERSTOOD THIS TO BE OUR RELEASE TIME HAD EXPIRED (1 HR) FROM PUSH TIME, WHICH WE WERE STILL LEGAL, BUT IN TURN OUR SCHEDULING DEPT HAD INDEED CANCELED OUR ENTIRE DISPATCH RELEASE. MISCOM.

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.