Narrative:

During preflight a non over water equipped (eow) A319 I was made aware that the over wing escape life lines were missing. I consulted the flight attendant manual that indicated they should be present. The pilot handbook also indicated they should be present. MEL (25-60-14) indicated to me they should be present and provided relief; so that if they were damaged or missing that the aircraft was restricted from eow operations. The maintenance department brought a sign off down and a copy of an engineering order (eo) that indicated the escape lines were not required; but the eo covered the installation of the ropes on the eow aircraft. The eo was however aircraft specific and my aircraft's tail number was not listed in the eo. I therefore concluded that the eo did not apply to this aircraft. Maintenance control was trying to justify not placing an MEL on the aircraft since the eo required the equipment on eow aircraft we can infer that it is not required on a non eow aircraft. I explained that I had three documents on the aircraft that indicated to me the escape lines were in fact required; the pilot handbook; the flight attendant manual and the MEL manual on the aircraft. The MEL did not mention any difference between eow and non eow aircraft. It just said A319/A320; period. I was requested to call maintenance control; which I did. After explaining my concerns and referencing the pages in the MEL and pilot handbook I was told that maintenance control would have to get further information. After some time I was presented with a new two page document that was a master equipment list; two pages with diagrams of equipment location and notes. I was referred to note number 2; which said eow aircraft had slide rafts; survival kits and escape ropes over row 9. However when reading all notes I asked about note number 3 which said non eow aircraft do not have slide rafts or survival kits. The absence of reference to the escape ropes in this note is where maintenance control was hanging their hat on being legal to not have to place an MEL on the airplane and sticking with the statement that the escape ropes were not required for non eow aircraft. I was also told that the computer system in maintenance would not allow the MEL 25-60-14 to be placed on this airframe. I believe this to be incorrect. I was also called by a training department representative who said we understand that the ropes are not required on the non eow aircraft. Although he would have to get more information from higher up and get back to me. Maintenance control; line maintenance and the training representative all agreed that the aircraft could be signed off and dispatched with reference to notes 2 and 3 on the master equipment list. I was also told that the pilot handbook indicated that the ropes are required was probably in error. With the information in the airplane; pilot handbook and flight attendant manual it looks like this is an item that should have been placed on MEL and installed on the aircraft at the next opportunity to do so. The information is in conflict and maintenance control is operating on and understanding which also seems to be in conflict with written documentation.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An A319 Captain reported that his aircraft did not have the required overwing escape ropes; but Maintenance argued that since the aircraft was not over water equipped the ropes were not required.

Narrative: During preflight a non over water equipped (EOW) A319 I was made aware that the over wing escape life lines were missing. I consulted the Flight Attendant Manual that indicated they should be present. The Pilot Handbook also indicated they should be present. MEL (25-60-14) indicated to me they should be present and provided relief; so that if they were damaged or missing that the aircraft was restricted from EOW operations. The Maintenance Department brought a sign off down and a copy of an Engineering Order (EO) that indicated the escape lines were not required; but the EO covered the installation of the ropes on the EOW aircraft. The EO was however aircraft specific and my aircraft's tail number was not listed in the EO. I therefore concluded that the EO did not apply to this aircraft. Maintenance Control was trying to justify not placing an MEL on the aircraft since the EO required the equipment on EOW aircraft we can infer that it is not required on a non EOW aircraft. I explained that I had three documents on the aircraft that indicated to me the escape lines were in fact required; the Pilot Handbook; the Flight Attendant Manual and the MEL Manual on the aircraft. The MEL did not mention any difference between EOW and non EOW aircraft. It just said A319/A320; period. I was requested to call Maintenance Control; which I did. After explaining my concerns and referencing the pages in the MEL and Pilot Handbook I was told that Maintenance Control would have to get further information. After some time I was presented with a new two page document that was a Master Equipment List; two pages with diagrams of equipment location and notes. I was referred to note number 2; which said EOW aircraft had slide rafts; survival kits and escape ropes over row 9. However when reading all notes I asked about note number 3 which said non EOW aircraft do not have slide rafts or survival kits. The absence of reference to the escape ropes in this note is where Maintenance Control was hanging their hat on being legal to not have to place an MEL on the airplane and sticking with the statement that the escape ropes were not required for non EOW aircraft. I was also told that the computer system in Maintenance would not allow the MEL 25-60-14 to be placed on this airframe. I believe this to be incorrect. I was also called by a Training Department Representative who said we understand that the ropes are not required on the non EOW aircraft. Although he would have to get more information from higher up and get back to me. Maintenance Control; Line Maintenance and the Training representative all agreed that the aircraft could be signed off and dispatched with reference to notes 2 and 3 on the Master Equipment List. I was also told that the Pilot Handbook indicated that the ropes are required was probably in error. With the information in the airplane; Pilot Handbook and Flight Attendant Manual it looks like this is an item that should have been placed on MEL and installed on the aircraft at the next opportunity to do so. The information is in conflict and Maintenance Control is operating on and understanding which also seems to be in conflict with written documentation.

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.