A319 captain reports being dispatched with MEL restricting flight above FL310 and into icing conditi...

Narrative:

MEL 36-11 (engine bleed air sys) limited us to FL310 and restricted from flight into icing. At FL310 sat was -36C icing is defined as visible moisture and temp >+10C or <-40C. Dispatch filed us with minimum fuel at M.70. We couldn't climb to colder air because of MEL; we couldn't descend to warmer air because of minimum fuel. I didn't know about the MEL in ops so I didn't check closely for cloud coverage on route; I also didn't know about the temps at altitude being so warm. Once at aircraft I failed to think about icing because of our southern destination.don't dispatch an aircraft with a bleed inop at any time because of altitude and temp limits for icing.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A319 Captain reports being dispatched with MEL restricting flight above FL310 and into icing conditions. Flight was also dispatched with minimum fuel; which prevented descent into warmer air due to increased fuel consumption.

Narrative: MEL 36-11 (engine bleed air sys) limited us to FL310 and restricted from flight into icing. At FL310 SAT was -36C icing is defined as visible moisture and temp >+10C or <-40C. Dispatch filed us with minimum fuel at M.70. We couldn't climb to colder air because of MEL; we couldn't descend to warmer air because of minimum fuel. I didn't know about the MEL in ops so I didn't check closely for cloud coverage on route; I also didn't know about the temps at altitude being so warm. Once at aircraft I failed to think about icing because of our southern destination.Don't dispatch an aircraft with a bleed inop at any time because of altitude and temp limits for icing.

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	850786
Time
Date	200909
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	MMID.ARTCC
State Reference	FO
Environment
Flight Conditions	IMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	A319
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Cruise
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Pneumatic System
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Not Flying
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe Deviation - Procedural MEL

A319 captain reports being dispatched with MEL restricting flight above FL310 and into icing conditions. Flight was also dispatched with minimum fuel; which prevented descent into warmer air due to increased fuel consumption.