Originally Posted by
hoistop
That is what I would expect too, but, obviously, one crew managed to do it - it is well described in Airbus Newsletter referred above. In short: as alowed by MEL, A/C was dispatched with NLG steering off - meaning in free-castor mode(...)
The mentioned Airbus Safety First article also states that dispatch with an inoperative NWS (as you say, in free castor mode) was removed from the MMEL. This revision was published/issued in February 2022, if my memory serves me right. By the looks of it, this airline didn't have this revision in their manuals yet. I am unaware of the process of how a manual published by the manufacturer gets to an operator (i.e. how long does it take between it being issued and being accepted by the respective CAA), but I guess the question now would be "why wasn't that MEL in their approved manuals?"
I know from a good source that some days after the event, the airline published a bulletin stating that it was no longer possible to dispatch an aircraft with inoperative NWS. Go figure...