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A B757 first officer's control wheel push to talk microphone button became stuck during preflight and was placed on the MEL. The crew felt it was needed during emergencies to aid communications between pilots and ATC and should not be MEL'ed.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 862537 |
| Time | |
| Date | 200911 |
| Local Time Of Day | 0601-1200 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ZZZ.Airport |
| State Reference | US |
| Environment | |
| Light | Daylight |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | B757-200 |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | Taxi |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Component | |
| Aircraft Component | Microphone |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Captain Pilot Flying |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe |
Narrative:
When attempting to begin taxi; first officer's push to talk switch on control wheel became stuck in the transmit position. Maintenance issue with a worn out switch. Maintenance placed the switch on a 757 MEL # 23-51-04B which is permissible as long as the push to talk (ptt) switch on the audio select panel is operational. This would be a minor issue during normal operations. However; if an emergency occurred requiring the use of the oxygen mask; the only way to communicate is by turning two volume knobs on; and repeatably switching transmit select buttons on the audio select panel as the need to talk to the other pilot and the need to talk to ATC continually changes. This would make effective communications during an emergency extraordinarily difficult if not impossible; especially if dense smoke was in the cockpit obscuring vision. This MEL should not be allowed.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: A B757 First Officer's control wheel push to talk microphone button became stuck during preflight and was placed on the MEL. The crew felt it was needed during emergencies to aid communications between pilots and ATC and should not be MEL'ed.
Narrative: When attempting to begin taxi; First Officer's push to talk switch on control wheel became stuck in the transmit position. Maintenance issue with a worn out switch. Maintenance placed the switch on a 757 MEL # 23-51-04B which is permissible as long as the push to talk (PTT) switch on the audio select panel is operational. This would be a minor issue during normal operations. However; if an emergency occurred requiring the use of the oxygen mask; the only way to communicate is by turning two volume knobs on; and repeatably switching transmit select buttons on the audio select panel as the need to talk to the other pilot and the need to talk to ATC continually changes. This would make effective communications during an emergency extraordinarily difficult if not impossible; especially if dense smoke was in the cockpit obscuring vision. This MEL should not be allowed.
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.