A captain of an md-80 reports he discovered one piece of orange tape missing from the left main gear...

Narrative:

During the exterior preflight; I discovered 1 piece of orange tape missing from the left main gear downlock visual position indicator. I understood this to be a 'no-go' item; but called maintenance control to confirm my understanding. The agent confirmed that the tape was required; and contract maintenance was called. I briefed the mechanics when they arrived. They called maintenance for assistance; and during this call I spoke with maintenance control again; but this time to a different agent. This second maintenance control agent was adamant that the missing tape was deferrable. I was very specific in describing the location and condition of the visual position indicator; and relayed the interpretation of the first agent. The second agent was unwavering and expressed extreme confidence in his MEL interpretation. The mechanics conferred further with the agent and signed off the logbook with an nef deferral referencing missing decals; placards and tape. I took the flight to ZZZ1 where upon arrival I called maintenance control again -- I wanted some further clarification before continued flight with this aircraft. This time; the agent who authorized the signoff said he never authorized deferral of the downlock visual position indicator; but that his deferral was for tape stripes on the nose gear doors that indicate limits of turn for the nose gear during towing. I reminded the agent of my detailed descriptions of the issue before I flew the plane; but he vigorously denied knowledge of a problem with the downlock visual indicator. I called maintenance to the aircraft and had the left main gear downlock visual indicator tape installed. Additionally; the mechanic installed limit stripes on the nosewheel doors; removed the non-essential function (nef) deferral and signed off the maintenance logbook. I cannot explain the agent's behavior nor his claimed misunderstanding of the situation. Maintenance control agents are the MEL interpretation experts on the property; and line pilots trust them. My trust in this agent was misplaced; and I allowed myself to be swayed by his insistence that the downlock indicator was deferrable.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A Captain of an MD-80 reports he discovered one piece of orange tape missing from the left main gear downlock visual position indicator and believed the tape to be a No-Go item. A Maintenance Controller disagrees; but later denies any knowledge of the problem.

Narrative: During the exterior preflight; I discovered 1 piece of orange tape missing from the left main gear downlock visual position indicator. I understood this to be a 'no-go' item; but called maintenance control to confirm my understanding. The Agent confirmed that the tape was required; and contract maintenance was called. I briefed the mechanics when they arrived. They called maintenance for assistance; and during this call I spoke with maintenance control again; but this time to a different agent. This second Maintenance Control Agent was adamant that the missing tape was deferrable. I was very specific in describing the location and condition of the visual position indicator; and relayed the interpretation of the first agent. The second agent was unwavering and expressed extreme confidence in his MEL interpretation. The mechanics conferred further with the agent and signed off the logbook with an NEF deferral referencing missing decals; placards and tape. I took the flight to ZZZ1 where upon arrival I called maintenance control again -- I wanted some further clarification before continued flight with this aircraft. This time; the agent who authorized the signoff said he never authorized deferral of the downlock visual position indicator; but that his deferral was for tape stripes on the nose gear doors that indicate limits of turn for the nose gear during towing. I reminded the agent of my detailed descriptions of the issue before I flew the plane; but he vigorously denied knowledge of a problem with the downlock visual indicator. I called maintenance to the aircraft and had the left main gear downlock visual indicator tape installed. Additionally; the Mechanic installed limit stripes on the nosewheel doors; removed the Non-Essential Function (NEF) deferral and signed off the maintenance logbook. I cannot explain the Agent's behavior nor his claimed misunderstanding of the situation. Maintenance Control agents are the MEL interpretation experts on the property; and line pilots trust them. My trust in this agent was misplaced; and I allowed myself to be swayed by his insistence that the downlock indicator was deferrable.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.

Attributes
ACN	824686
Time
Date	200902
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	FAT.Airport
State Reference	CA
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	MD-80 Series (DC-9-80) Undifferentiated or Other Model
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Parked
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Landing Gear Indicating System
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) Flight Crew Flight Engineer
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 120 Flight Crew Total 16000 Flight Crew Type 2400
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical Deviation - Procedural FAR Deviation - Procedural MEL Deviation - Procedural Maintenance Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy

A captain of an md-80 reports he discovered one piece of orange tape missing from the left main gear downlock visual position indicator and believed the tape to be a no-go item. A maintenance controller disagrees; but later denies any knowledge of the problem.