Narrative:

Aircraft was dispatched with one operating oven in the forward galley. I had communicated with the purser that if one oven would not be enough for satisfactory service; we could request another aircraft. She agreed to accept the aircraft and that the cabin crew would 'make do' as best they could. I requested that she not try to use the other oven as it had been MEL'ed and the circuit breaker on that oven had been 'collared.' during my rest break at cruise; I saw that the inoperative oven was being used to 'store' heated items once they had been warmed before serving. Later; however; I realized that the oven had been turned on and that it was supplying partial heating of meals to assist in food preparation. I asked that the oven be turned off and the circuit breaker be re-collared; which it was. I spoke later with the purser about the seriousness of using any MEL'ed item; much less a heating element such as an oven and she totally understood and agreed never to allow any such future event. She spoke with the other flight attendants and relayed my concerns and instructions to never operate any system that had been MEL'ed.prior to passenger boarding; three mechanics were still on board the aircraft having just installed a new oven in the forward galley. The aircraft had arrived with write-ups on both ovens; so both ovens were MEL'ed for our flight. There was only one oven in stock; so the mechanics replaced the left oven; forward in the galley. One mechanic remained in the forward galley/passageway area; loudly announcing to everyone in the crew that he 'knew' the other oven would work on a limited basis; but that they 'had to MEL it' for the trip. He further suggested that; 'if it was me; I'd use it if I had to; because I know it works to some degree...no problem!' we all heard his comments and I'm sure now that this had a huge impact on the flight attendant's judgment about using the MEL'ed oven. I am sure now that during the flight the workload increased in the galley during food preparation to the point that the operating oven was simply not getting the job done. Thus; the flight attendants decided to try to 'use what the mechanic had suggested' to supplement their ability to heat the first class meals. I think it was a simple case of task-loading backed up by repeated suggestions from the mechanic that the MEL'ed oven 'still really worked.'this is one more classic case of the company's push for on-time departures and mission completion at any cost. My suggestion is two-part: 1. Educate flight attendants during training and recurrent training as to the inherent dangers of any heating element in flight. Any fire on board an aircraft is horrific enough; let alone a transatlantic flight; hours away from any alternate airport.2. Any MEL'ed item may not be used at any time unless required during an extreme emergency and as an ultimate last resort. Flight attendants and many pilots are now so utterly desensitized to mels on board our aircraft that they accept the items as 'usable to some limited degree;' such as a lavatory that is out of service. Lavatories that are 'closed' are regularly used for liquid disposal only. Once we had our discussion; the purser was in total and complete agreement with me about never using or trying to use an item that had been MEL'ed. Further; I never had any indication or impression that she or any other of the flight attendants had willfully disobeyed my instructions or requests. They had simply fallen prey to task-loading and bad information; loudly given to them by the attending mechanic prior to our departure.arture.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B767 Captain reported being dispatched with a single operating oven in the first class galley and the other on MEL. During flight the flight attendants were discovered using the MEL'ed oven.

Narrative: Aircraft was dispatched with one operating oven in the forward galley. I had communicated with the Purser that if one oven would not be enough for satisfactory service; we could request another aircraft. She agreed to accept the aircraft and that the cabin crew would 'make do' as best they could. I requested that she not try to use the other oven as it had been MEL'ed and the circuit breaker on that oven had been 'collared.' During my rest break at cruise; I saw that the inoperative oven was being used to 'store' heated items once they had been warmed before serving. Later; however; I realized that the oven had been turned on and that it was supplying partial heating of meals to assist in food preparation. I asked that the oven be turned off and the circuit breaker be re-collared; which it was. I spoke later with the Purser about the seriousness of using any MEL'ed item; much less a heating element such as an oven and she totally understood and agreed never to allow any such future event. She spoke with the other flight attendants and relayed my concerns and instructions to never operate any system that had been MEL'ed.Prior to passenger boarding; three mechanics were still on board the aircraft having just installed a new oven in the forward galley. The aircraft had arrived with write-ups on both ovens; so both ovens were MEL'ed for our flight. There was only one oven in stock; so the mechanics replaced the left oven; forward in the galley. One Mechanic remained in the forward galley/passageway area; loudly announcing to everyone in the crew that he 'knew' the other oven would work on a limited basis; but that they 'had to MEL it' for the trip. He further suggested that; 'if it was me; I'd use it if I had to; because I know it works to some degree...no problem!' We all heard his comments and I'm sure now that this had a huge impact on the Flight Attendant's judgment about using the MEL'ed oven. I am sure now that during the flight the workload increased in the galley during food preparation to the point that the operating oven was simply not getting the job done. Thus; the flight attendants decided to try to 'use what the Mechanic had suggested' to supplement their ability to heat the first class meals. I think it was a simple case of task-loading backed up by repeated suggestions from the Mechanic that the MEL'ed oven 'still really worked.'This is one more classic case of the company's push for on-time departures and mission completion at any cost. My suggestion is two-part: 1. Educate flight attendants during training and recurrent training as to the inherent dangers of any heating element in flight. Any fire on board an aircraft is horrific enough; let alone a transatlantic flight; hours away from any alternate airport.2. Any MEL'ed item may not be used at any time unless required during an extreme emergency and as an ultimate last resort. Flight attendants and many pilots are now so utterly desensitized to MELs on board our aircraft that they accept the items as 'usable to some limited degree;' such as a lavatory that is out of service. Lavatories that are 'closed' are regularly used for liquid disposal only. Once we had our discussion; the Purser was in total and complete agreement with me about never using or trying to use an item that had been MEL'ed. Further; I never had any indication or impression that she or any other of the flight attendants had willfully disobeyed my instructions or requests. They had simply fallen prey to task-loading and bad information; loudly given to them by the attending Mechanic prior to our departure.arture.

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.