Narrative:

Reviewing the MEL document with the weather package; it stated that there were no dispatch items. On page two of this document there was an item that stated; 'due to autopilot and autoland test for left-hand (lh) autopilot system inoperative aircraft downgraded to CAT l.' I found this a very odd entry and was not comfortable with it. If the lh autopilot system was inoperative; this should be a MEL item. Arriving at the airplane I noticed two orange MEL deferred maintenance item (dmi) tags placed on each side of the glare shield next to the autopilot switches. Also; there was an operations placard placed on the left side of the instrument panel on the captain's side. I called the local station maintenance and stated that we had a carry forward item and that the MEL dmi stickers were placarded. As stated in our fom these (the MEL dmi stickers) are in place to make it clear there are things that are broken on the airplane and deferred. This is not the case; as in the logbook it was recorded as a carried forward; in other words no MEL or cdl for this item. They called maintenance and called us on the radio and stated that was how maintenance wanted the placards to stay. In my opinion; this airplane was intentionally dispatched not in accordance with the placards as described in our fom. This added to the confusion of what the maintenance status of the airplane was. The maintenance release was on the flight deck and I reviewed it immediately. On the maintenance release under 'dispatch items' was an entry that stated the cf item aircraft downgraded to CAT l due to no qualified personnel to check system. This was not how this was in the logbook of the airplane. It was written up as a no land 3 above and below 200 ft. The last above stated write up says the 'lh autopilot system inoperative' which is what the write up said. This would not be a cf item it would have to be a MEL dmi. There was no evidence of this autopilot problem being fixed in the logbook yet somebody was treating this as if it were a lack of currency of the autopilot system (a cf item). Somehow a broken lh autopilot was changed into a non-current autopilot landing status without any repair. It is our airline's policy that maintenance checks with dispatch prior to any 'dispatch item' in the logbook and confirms operational status. I called dispatch about 10 minutes before departure on the satcom and stated we had a dispatch item regarding the landing status of the airplane. Dispatch was not even aware that we had a dispatch item and that the airplane was being dispatched as a CAT l aircraft. I agreed to a verbal release to add this item to the flight plan to make it a legal dispatch about 5 minutes before departure. I stated that I was not comfortable with the logbook and the write ups were not consistent with the cf item. Dispatch stated a review with maintenance would take place. I never heard anything back from that conversation. I considered refusing the airplane as it did not seem properly prepared by maintenance for flight. I decided that the airplane was safe for flight and I did everything within my power to bring to light to both the station maintenance personnel; whom by the way did not seem to care at all whether air carrier procedures were followed or even what those procedures are; and to maintenance. In my opinion maintenance released this airplane knowing that it was not in accordance with airline policy; at least as described in the fom.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B777 inoperative autopilot was tagged with MEL Deferred Maintenance Items stickers placed on the glare shield; but then incorrectly entered into the maintenance log book as a carry forward maintenance item awaiting tests.

Narrative: Reviewing the MEL document with the weather package; it stated that there were no Dispatch items. On page two of this document there was an item that stated; 'due to autopilot and autoland test for left-hand (LH) autopilot system inoperative aircraft downgraded to CAT l.' I found this a very odd entry and was not comfortable with it. If the LH autopilot system was inoperative; this should be a MEL item. Arriving at the airplane I noticed two orange MEL Deferred Maintenance Item (DMI) tags placed on each side of the glare shield next to the autopilot switches. Also; there was an OPS Placard placed on the left side of the instrument panel on the Captain's side. I called the Local Station Maintenance and stated that we had a carry forward item and that the MEL DMI stickers were placarded. As stated in our FOM these (the MEL DMI stickers) are in place to make it clear there are things that are broken on the airplane and deferred. This is not the case; as in the logbook it was recorded as a carried forward; in other words no MEL or CDL for this item. They called Maintenance and called us on the radio and stated that was how Maintenance wanted the placards to stay. In my opinion; this airplane was intentionally dispatched not in accordance with the placards as described in our FOM. This added to the confusion of what the maintenance status of the airplane was. The Maintenance release was on the flight deck and I reviewed it immediately. On the Maintenance release under 'Dispatch Items' was an entry that stated the CF item aircraft downgraded to CAT l due to no qualified personnel to check system. This was not how this was in the logbook of the airplane. It was written up as a NO LAND 3 above and below 200 FT. The last above stated write up says the 'LH autopilot system INOP' which is what the write up said. This would not be a CF item it would have to be a MEL DMI. There was no evidence of this autopilot problem being fixed in the logbook yet somebody was treating this as if it were a lack of currency of the autopilot system (a CF item). Somehow a broken LH autopilot was changed into a non-current autopilot landing status without any repair. It is our airline's policy that Maintenance checks with Dispatch prior to any 'Dispatch Item' in the logbook and confirms operational status. I called Dispatch about 10 minutes before departure on the SATCOM and stated we had a Dispatch item regarding the landing status of the airplane. Dispatch was not even aware that we had a dispatch item and that the airplane was being dispatched as a CAT l aircraft. I agreed to a verbal release to add this item to the flight plan to make it a legal dispatch about 5 minutes before departure. I stated that I was not comfortable with the logbook and the write ups were not consistent with the CF item. Dispatch stated a review with Maintenance would take place. I never heard anything back from that conversation. I considered refusing the airplane as it did not seem properly prepared by Maintenance for flight. I decided that the airplane was safe for flight and I did everything within my power to bring to light to both the Station Maintenance personnel; whom by the way did not seem to care at all whether Air Carrier procedures were followed or even what those procedures are; and to Maintenance. In my opinion Maintenance released this airplane knowing that it was not in accordance with airline policy; at least as described in the FOM.

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.