A B777 egt slightly overheated to 680 degrees on an ETOPS takeoff. The captain was concerned that co...

Narrative:

Takeoff OAT 93F; max power; packs off; max allowable takeoff weight. As the gear was being retracted the left engine egt gage displayed a full red indication. The egt limits came back within the normal range when the throttles came to climb power after the flaps moved to position 1 climb power. The crew felt the overheat lasted approximately 5 seconds and reached approximately 680; 5 degrees above the limit of 675. The onboard maintenance computer registered 676; 1 degree above limit. Crew felt comfortable with the engine's performance during the rest of the climb. Captain asked for a conference call to be set up between maintenance; dispatch; the 777 chief pilot. I wanted an answer to the question 'is it legal to go ETOPS with an engine that had exceeded a published limit.' maintenance said that there was a 20 degree buffer built for exceedances; and that 685 was the real limit. The 777 guru joined the conference call and said he thought it was legal to continue if the MEL did not prohibit it. Crew decided to continue.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B777 EGT slightly overheated to 680 degrees on an ETOPS takeoff. The Captain was concerned that continuing ETOPS with that event was not possible but was told that because the MEL did not prohibit operation and the actual limit was 685 so the flight continued.

Narrative: Takeoff OAT 93F; max power; packs off; max allowable takeoff weight. As the gear was being retracted the left engine EGT gage displayed a full red indication. The EGT limits came back within the normal range when the throttles came to climb power after the flaps moved to position 1 climb power. The crew felt the overheat lasted approximately 5 seconds and reached approximately 680; 5 degrees above the limit of 675. The onboard maintenance computer registered 676; 1 degree above limit. Crew felt comfortable with the engine's performance during the rest of the climb. Captain asked for a conference call to be set up between Maintenance; Dispatch; the 777 Chief Pilot. I wanted an answer to the question 'Is it legal to go ETOPS with an engine that had exceeded a published limit.' Maintenance said that there was a 20 degree buffer built for exceedances; and that 685 was the real limit. The 777 GURU joined the conference call and said he thought it was legal to continue if the MEL did not prohibit it. Crew decided to continue.

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	900641
Time
Date	201007
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B777 Undifferentiated or Other Model
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Takeoff
Component
Aircraft Component	Turbine Engine
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Flying Check Pilot
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 100 Flight Crew Total 18000 Flight Crew Type 4300
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy

A B777 egt slightly overheated to 680 degrees on an ETOPS takeoff. The captain was concerned that continuing ETOPS with that event was not possible but was told that because the MEL did not prohibit operation and the actual limit was 685 so the flight continued.