A B737 flight crew departed with an MEL that was not listed on the release.

Attributes
ACN	523820
Time
Date	200109
Day	Sun
Local Time Of Day	1801 To 2400
Place
Locale Reference	airport : lax.airport
State Reference	CA
Altitude	agl single value : 0
Environment
Flight Conditions	Marginal
Light	Night
Aircraft 1
Controlling Facilities	tracon : roa.tracon
Operator	common carrier : air carrier
Make Model Name	B737-700
Flight Phase	ground : preflight
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : first officer
Qualification	pilot : cfi pilot : multi engine pilot : atp pilot : instrument
Experience	flight time last 90 days : 200 flight time total : 8600 flight time type : 1220
ASRS Report	523820
Events
Anomaly	aircraft equipment problem : less severe maintenance problem : non compliance with mel non adherence : company policies non adherence : far
Resolutory Action	none taken : detected after the fact
Supplementary
Problem Areas	Maintenance Human Performance Flight Crew Human Performance
Primary Problem	Flight Crew Human Performance

Narrative:

Aircraft arrived at gate with write-up. The write-up was for inoperative ACARS. Maintenance deferred ACARS. All logbook paperwork completed correctly. The captain arrived to the aircraft late. I informed him of the write-up and he acknowledged. We performed necessary checklists and left. Pushback, taxi, takeoff, and climb out were routine. At the top of climb, the captain noticed the MEL had not been added to the release. The captain called operations to get a pen and ink change for an amended release. Operations said since we were airborne, they could not do that. We added the MEL to the release with the appropriate information that we had. Once arriving at our destination, we called maintenance to make sure the deferral was in the computer. There was a communication failure on the part of several people, including the flight crew, that allowed the flight to depart with incomplete paperwork. A different system that eliminates long lines of communication and that can handle deferred items in a more timely manner needs to be developed. Furthermore, crew communication could have more completely addressed the problem had we had time to discuss it as part of our preflight brief.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B737 FLT CREW DEPARTED WITH AN MEL THAT WAS NOT LISTED ON THE RELEASE.

Narrative: ACFT ARRIVED AT GATE WITH WRITE-UP. THE WRITE-UP WAS FOR INOP ACARS. MAINT DEFERRED ACARS. ALL LOGBOOK PAPERWORK COMPLETED CORRECTLY. THE CAPT ARRIVED TO THE ACFT LATE. I INFORMED HIM OF THE WRITE-UP AND HE ACKNOWLEDGED. WE PERFORMED NECESSARY CHKLISTS AND LEFT. PUSHBACK, TAXI, TKOF, AND CLBOUT WERE ROUTINE. AT THE TOP OF CLB, THE CAPT NOTICED THE MEL HAD NOT BEEN ADDED TO THE RELEASE. THE CAPT CALLED OPS TO GET A PEN AND INK CHANGE FOR AN AMENDED RELEASE. OPS SAID SINCE WE WERE AIRBORNE, THEY COULD NOT DO THAT. WE ADDED THE MEL TO THE RELEASE WITH THE APPROPRIATE INFO THAT WE HAD. ONCE ARRIVING AT OUR DEST, WE CALLED MAINT TO MAKE SURE THE DEFERRAL WAS IN THE COMPUTER. THERE WAS A COM FAILURE ON THE PART OF SEVERAL PEOPLE, INCLUDING THE FLT CREW, THAT ALLOWED THE FLT TO DEPART WITH INCOMPLETE PAPERWORK. A DIFFERENT SYS THAT ELIMINATES LONG LINES OF COM AND THAT CAN HANDLE DEFERRED ITEMS IN A MORE TIMELY MANNER NEEDS TO BE DEVELOPED. FURTHERMORE, CREW COM COULD HAVE MORE COMPLETELY ADDRESSED THE PROB HAD WE HAD TIME TO DISCUSS IT AS PART OF OUR PREFLT BRIEF.

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.