Does the MEL say "shall not depart an airport......" or "shall not depart a maintenance base......."?
I have heard that certain airlines interprete "maintenance base" as the "maintenance area" on an airport. ie, if the aircraft has left the "maintenance base" and is now sitting on an airport stand loading pax then it is considered to be away from the maintenance base. If it is now found to have a defect, it may depart on a flight (assuming no other restrictions apply). The fault will then be fixed next time it is in the "maintenance base".
Any opinions??
Sorry if I have slightly digressed from the original post but the CAA must have agreed (or not objected to) the MEL's preamble. If the poster is concerned, he/she should phone the CAA MEL section to get its interpretation.......that's if you can get to speak to someone in the CAA who is willing to make a decision !!
Last edited by coalface; 23rd September 2002 at 19:02.