A B737-300 captain reported that he did not add an item to the MEL before departure from las.

Attributes
ACN	515080
Time
Date	200106
Day	Thu
Local Time Of Day	0001 To 0600
Place
Locale Reference	airport : las.airport
State Reference	NV
Altitude	agl single value : 0
Environment
Light	Night
Aircraft 1
Operator	common carrier : air carrier
Make Model Name	B737-300
Flight Phase	ground : parked
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : captain oversight : pic
Qualification	pilot : atp
Experience	flight time last 90 days : 62 flight time total : 18000 flight time type : 12000
ASRS Report	515080
Events
Anomaly	maintenance problem : improper documentation non adherence : published procedure non adherence : far non adherence : company policies
Resolutory Action	none taken : detected after the fact
Supplementary
Problem Areas	Passenger Human Performance Flight Crew Human Performance
Primary Problem	Flight Crew Human Performance

Narrative:

The captain's map light was not working. Maintenance was called to repair. They were unable, so the item was MEL'ed. I was distraction by the boarding of the aircraft and coordinating with the operations agent and did not call dispatch to add the item to the release.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B737-300 CAPT RPTED THAT HE DID NOT ADD AN ITEM TO THE MEL BEFORE DEP FROM LAS.

Narrative: THE CAPT'S MAP LIGHT WAS NOT WORKING. MAINT WAS CALLED TO REPAIR. THEY WERE UNABLE, SO THE ITEM WAS MEL'ED. I WAS DISTR BY THE BOARDING OF THE ACFT AND COORDINATING WITH THE OPS AGENT AND DID NOT CALL DISPATCH TO ADD THE ITEM TO THE RELEASE.

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.