A B737 flight crew discovers that there was an open MEL from a day earlier.

Attributes
ACN	519660
Time
Date	200107
Day	Tue
Local Time Of Day	1201 To 1800
Place
Locale Reference	airport : sea.airport
State Reference	WA
Altitude	agl single value : 0
Environment
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Operator	common carrier : air carrier
Make Model Name	B737 Undifferentiated or Other Model
Flight Phase	ground : takeoff roll ground : parked
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : first officer
Qualification	pilot : commercial pilot : instrument pilot : multi engine pilot : atp
Experience	flight time last 90 days : 200 flight time type : 150
ASRS Report	519660
Events
Anomaly	aircraft equipment problem : less severe maintenance problem : non compliance with mel non adherence : far
Resolutory Action	none taken : detected after the fact
Consequence	other
Supplementary
Problem Areas	Maintenance Human Performance Company Flight Crew Human Performance
Primary Problem	Maintenance Human Performance

Narrative:

I was the first officer on a flight from sea on jul/thu/01. The aircraft had a write-up that was not signed off properly by maintenance. We were unaware of this since checking all write-ups on previous days is impractical. This aircraft was flown for several days with this open write-up in the logbook. The cause of this problem, in my opinion, is that there is no clear way to determine if an aircraft is airworthy. It is obviously impractical for pilots to check every detail on every logbook page. (There are often 50+ pages of past write-ups.) there should be a box that is checked by maintenance or some clear way to show the flight crew that the aircraft is airworthy.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B737 FLT CREW DISCOVERS THAT THERE WAS AN OPEN MEL FROM A DAY EARLIER.

Narrative: I WAS THE FO ON A FLT FROM SEA ON JUL/THU/01. THE ACFT HAD A WRITE-UP THAT WAS NOT SIGNED OFF PROPERLY BY MAINT. WE WERE UNAWARE OF THIS SINCE CHKING ALL WRITE-UPS ON PREVIOUS DAYS IS IMPRACTICAL. THIS ACFT WAS FLOWN FOR SEVERAL DAYS WITH THIS OPEN WRITE-UP IN THE LOGBOOK. THE CAUSE OF THIS PROB, IN MY OPINION, IS THAT THERE IS NO CLR WAY TO DETERMINE IF AN ACFT IS AIRWORTHY. IT IS OBVIOUSLY IMPRACTICAL FOR PLTS TO CHK EVERY DETAIL ON EVERY LOGBOOK PAGE. (THERE ARE OFTEN 50+ PAGES OF PAST WRITE-UPS.) THERE SHOULD BE A BOX THAT IS CHKED BY MAINT OR SOME CLR WAY TO SHOW THE FLT CREW THAT THE ACFT IS AIRWORTHY.

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.