Narrative:

While starting the left engine the start selector remained in ground; the valve light illuminated; and the EICAS displayed left eng starter cutout message. I announced the message and the first officer grabbed the QRH. Our first attempt to find the checklist was not successful. By this time the engine was at approximately 60% N2. At that point I manually rotated the start selector to the [auto] position. The valve light and the EICAS message cleared. The engine appeared normal. We then spent another minute or two to find the correct checklist which we completed. We then called maintenance control who deferred the item and sent a new maintenance release. The release message [with respect to our fault] contained a caution to not delay positioning the start selector to auto as the starter could be damaged. We then advised maintenance control that the engine was at approximately 60% N2 for up to 90 seconds before auto was selected. We asked for the limit for operating an engine at idle with the starter engaged. They were not able to provide this information but assured us that the engine was good. The engine operated normally for taxi and a runup while in position and the flight. We found the QRH to be a clumsy and awkward replacement for the qrc. Also the lack of limit information from maintenance control was uncomfortable. I would suggest returning to the qrc in addition to the QRH and providing maintenance control with the limits or stating that there are none or they don't apply.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B757-200 flight crew was unable to respond in a timely fashion to a failure of the left engine starter to disengage. The difficulty in accessing the required checklist from the newly implemented Quick Response 'Handbook' contributed to the delay. Ultimately; the Captain elected to return the Start Switch to the auto position without benefit of the directive from the checklist; a technical violation of company SOP.

Narrative: While starting the left engine the start selector remained in ground; the valve light illuminated; and the EICAS displayed L Eng Starter Cutout message. I announced the message and the First Officer grabbed the QRH. Our first attempt to find the checklist was not successful. By this time the engine was at approximately 60% N2. At that point I manually rotated the start selector to the [auto] position. The valve light and the EICAS message cleared. The engine appeared normal. We then spent another minute or two to find the correct checklist which we completed. We then called Maintenance Control who deferred the item and sent a new maintenance release. The release message [with respect to our fault] contained a caution to not delay positioning the start selector to auto as the starter could be damaged. We then advised Maintenance Control that the engine was at approximately 60% N2 for up to 90 seconds before auto was selected. We asked for the limit for operating an engine at idle with the starter engaged. They were not able to provide this information but assured us that the engine was good. The engine operated normally for taxi and a runup while in position and the flight. We found the QRH to be a clumsy and awkward replacement for the QRC. Also the lack of limit information from Maintenance Control was uncomfortable. I would suggest returning to the QRC in addition to the QRH and providing Maintenance Control with the limits or stating that there are none or they don't apply.

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.