An MD80 flight crew disagrees with company about the placard of an MEL item.

Attributes
ACN	526120
Time
Date	200109
Day	Fri
Place
Locale Reference	airport : dfw.airport
State Reference	TX
Altitude	agl single value : 0
Aircraft 1
Operator	common carrier : air carrier
Make Model Name	MD-80 Super 80
Flight Phase	ground : preflight ground : parked
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : captain oversight : pic
Qualification	pilot : atp
ASRS Report	526120
Events
Anomaly	aircraft equipment problem : less severe non adherence : far
Resolutory Action	none taken : anomaly accepted
Consequence	other other
Supplementary
Problem Areas	Company Flight Crew Human Performance Aircraft
Primary Problem	Company

Narrative:

PA volume meter was written up as being stuck. PA worked fine. Mechanic came out and placarded PA volume meter inoperative. Read with the copilot and mechanic the MEL and we all referred to reference that the MEL refers you to. After reading through the text of reference and getting to the notes allowing use of the PA if it works. It was agreed by all that we could use the PA because it was not inoperative and go with the placard of reference with the volume meter inoperative. Dispatch later was confused with the MEL and our interpretation of it and made several phone calls to try and make sense of it all. Long story short, even though it does not make sense to me, it was decided to placard the system inoperative per reference. What is frustrating is the amount of discussion and review of the MEL before we departed and the general consensus that we were doing it correctly.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: AN MD80 FLT CREW DISAGREES WITH COMPANY ABOUT THE PLACARD OF AN MEL ITEM.

Narrative: PA VOLUME METER WAS WRITTEN UP AS BEING STUCK. PA WORKED FINE. MECH CAME OUT AND PLACARDED PA VOLUME METER INOP. READ WITH THE COPLT AND MECH THE MEL AND WE ALL REFERRED TO REF THAT THE MEL REFERS YOU TO. AFTER READING THROUGH THE TEXT OF REF AND GETTING TO THE NOTES ALLOWING USE OF THE PA IF IT WORKS. IT WAS AGREED BY ALL THAT WE COULD USE THE PA BECAUSE IT WAS NOT INOP AND GO WITH THE PLACARD OF REF WITH THE VOLUME METER INOP. DISPATCH LATER WAS CONFUSED WITH THE MEL AND OUR INTERP OF IT AND MADE SEVERAL PHONE CALLS TO TRY AND MAKE SENSE OF IT ALL. LONG STORY SHORT, EVEN THOUGH IT DOES NOT MAKE SENSE TO ME, IT WAS DECIDED TO PLACARD THE SYS INOP PER REF. WHAT IS FRUSTRATING IS THE AMOUNT OF DISCUSSION AND REVIEW OF THE MEL BEFORE WE DEPARTED AND THE GENERAL CONSENSUS THAT WE WERE DOING IT CORRECTLY.

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.