Captain of mdt operated aircraft contrary to aircraft equipment MEL'ed inoperative.

Attributes
ACN	294079
Time
Date	199501
Day	Mon
Local Time Of Day	1801 To 2400
Place
Locale Reference	atc facility : zzz
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	Mixed
Light	Night
Aircraft 1
Controlling Facilities	artcc : zzz tracon : zzz tower : dtw
Operator	common carrier : air carrier
Make Model Name	Dash 8 Series Undifferentiated or Other Model
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Navigation In Use	Other Other
Flight Phase	climbout : intermediate altitude cruise other descent other
Route In Use	enroute : on vectors enroute airway : zzz
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : first officer
Qualification	pilot : cfi pilot : commercial pilot : instrument
Experience	flight time last 90 days : 250 flight time total : 3000 flight time type : 1500
ASRS Report	294079
Person 2
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : captain oversight : pic
Qualification	pilot : atp
Events
Anomaly	aircraft equipment problem : less severe non adherence : far other anomaly other
Independent Detector	other flight crewa
Resolutory Action	none taken : anomaly accepted
Consequence	Other
Supplementary
Primary Problem	Aircraft
Air Traffic Incident	Pilot Deviation

Narrative:

The captain accepted a direct clearance to a fix with our RNAV unit when it was MEL'ed inoperative. I asked him if he was sure he wanted to do this and he said 'yes.' we used this 'inoperative' piece of equipment for primary navigation of the flight. He also had me change our flight plan to ia, but we accepted a direct clearance anyway.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: CAPT OF MDT OPERATED ACFT CONTRARY TO ACFT EQUIP MEL'ED INOP.

Narrative: THE CAPT ACCEPTED A DIRECT CLRNC TO A FIX WITH OUR RNAV UNIT WHEN IT WAS MEL'ED INOP. I ASKED HIM IF HE WAS SURE HE WANTED TO DO THIS AND HE SAID 'YES.' WE USED THIS 'INOP' PIECE OF EQUIP FOR PRIMARY NAV OF THE FLT. HE ALSO HAD ME CHANGE OUR FLT PLAN TO IA, BUT WE ACCEPTED A DIRECT CLRNC ANYWAY.

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.