Narrative:

Fuel control engine valve indication system. B767-300 aircraft. Reference MEL chapter 73-21-3; 'lh engine fuel vlv ind lt inoperative;' deferred october 2010. This report is to bring to light a very poorly written MEL procedure. Step 2 under 'operations procedures' states; 'shut down engine using maintenance procedures (see associated dmp)'. Looking at the referenced dmp (dispatch maintenance procedures); there are four steps; with the last step having four more sub-steps. Although steps 1-3 are feasible for a [flight] crew to accomplish; step 4 was not intended for a crew to accomplish. Nor was it intended to be accomplished at every [engine] shutdown; but instead; after the initial MEL procedure was accomplished (according to maintenance). We (four line mechanics; one maintenance controller supervisor; one assistant chief pilot (acp); two pilots) discussed this MEL prior to startup; and could not come to a unanimous decision. Most of the mechanics believed however that we should not do any of the dmp (disregard step 2 of MEL); that this dmp procedure was only to be accomplished with the initial MEL signoff. Another opinion was that we should accomplish steps 1-3 of dmp; but not step 4. All of our training has been that you either do a complete procedure until you reach 'end of procedure'; or you don't do it at all. We are not trained to do partial procedures; and we are not supposed to skip steps. Unfortunately; these seem to be the only two options until the MEL is re-written. Reviewing this MEL procedure and discussing it and making phone calls; resulted in a 10 minute delay pushing-back. As one last safety measure; we asked our assistant chief pilot to make another call to the maintenance controller supervisor to discuss this MEL and get a clear interpretation; and to ACARS us the result through our dispatcher; so that we could adhere to the MEL when shutting down. (Per the MEL; the startup procedure was normal; so we went ahead and pushed back and started.) enroute we received an ACARS message that stated: 'MEL 73-21-3 is poorly written. Proceed with normal engine shutdown with no dmp maintenance procedure. Per assistant chief pilot.'

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B767-300 Captain reports encountering a very poorly written and confusing MEL Chapter 73-21-3 and Dispatch Maintenance Procedures (DMP) required for a 'LH ENG FUEL VLV IND LT INOP' deferral. Four Line Mechanics; one Maintenance Controller Supervisor; one Assistant Chief Pilot and two pilots could not agree on whether one step of the procedures applied after each shut-down.

Narrative: FUEL CONTROL ENG VALVE INDICATION SYSTEM. B767-300 aircraft. Reference MEL Chapter 73-21-3; 'LH ENG FUEL VLV IND LT INOP;' deferred October 2010. This report is to bring to light a very poorly written MEL procedure. Step 2 under 'Operations Procedures' states; 'shut down engine using Maintenance Procedures (see associated DMP)'. Looking at the referenced DMP (Dispatch Maintenance Procedures); there are four steps; with the last step having four more sub-steps. Although steps 1-3 are feasible for a [flight] crew to accomplish; step 4 was not intended for a crew to accomplish. Nor was it intended to be accomplished at every [engine] shutdown; but instead; after the initial MEL procedure was accomplished (according to Maintenance). We (four Line Mechanics; one Maintenance Controller Supervisor; one Assistant Chief Pilot (ACP); two Pilots) discussed this MEL prior to startup; and could not come to a unanimous decision. Most of the mechanics believed however that we should not do ANY of the DMP (disregard step 2 of MEL); that this DMP procedure was only to be accomplished with the initial MEL signoff. Another opinion was that we should accomplish steps 1-3 of DMP; but not step 4. All of our training has been that you either do a complete procedure until you reach 'end of procedure'; or you don't do it at all. We are not trained to do partial procedures; and we are not supposed to skip steps. Unfortunately; these seem to be the only two options until the MEL is re-written. Reviewing this MEL procedure and discussing it and making phone calls; resulted in a 10 minute delay pushing-back. As one last safety measure; we asked our Assistant Chief Pilot to make another call to the Maintenance Controller Supervisor to discuss this MEL and get a clear interpretation; and to ACARS us the result through our Dispatcher; so that we could adhere to the MEL when shutting down. (Per the MEL; the startup procedure was normal; so we went ahead and pushed back and started.) Enroute we received an ACARS message that stated: 'MEL 73-21-3 is poorly written. Proceed with normal engine shutdown with no DMP Maintenance Procedure. Per Assistant Chief Pilot.'

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.