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Advantages of having an MEL

Asked by: 3287 views FAA Regulations

Besides having 1 source to reference for determining if a flight with inoperative equipment is feasible, what are other tangible benefits to having an MEL in general and commercial aviation?

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1 Answers

  1. Best Answer


    Mark Kolber on Aug 14, 2016

    I think two primary ones.

    One is the ability to fly with inoperative equipment without having to cancel the flight for a maintenance deferral. The breadth of pilot discretion appearing in FAR 91.213(d) is coupled with a often less liberal FAA enforcement attitude that unless the failure is of equipment than can be worked on as preventive maintenance by a pilot, a mechanic deferral is required.

    The other is taking decision-making out of the hands of the individual pilots in a group setting as to what equipment is required for a flight and what equipment is not.

    Take a look at a typical simple MMEL and you can see both factors. Equipment that would otherwise be deferred for maintenance and equipment that different pilots might have different opinions about flying without.

    Primarily for commercial ops although I have heard of a few flight schools that have used them.

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