An aircraft minimum equipment list (MEL) provides a line of defense for safe flight operations, but the development by aircraft operators with oversight by civil aviation authorities is not always standardized around the world. In the case of MEL authoring, some specialists argue that more efforts are needed to standardize the existing MEL format and to apply current standards of simplified English.
For an MEL to be properly interpreted for safe flight operations, the flight crews that use it need adequate troubleshooting skills as well as knowledge and experience in airworthiness management. On their part, some authorities need to publish more specific guidance materials on MEL development and push for master MELs (MMELs) to be issued by aircraft manufacturers with deeper consideration of the interconnectedness of aircraft systems, several specialists say.
An air carrier fuel-exhaustion incident 30 years ago underscores the importance of MEL-related risk factors. On July 23, 198…
