Mel

[grumman38]

Can the original MEL from the factory be used for a light jet or turboprop (to dispatch with a non op item) if the MEL has not been approved or a letter received from your local FSDO? If so, does every new owner have to get it approved like a LOA for RVSM?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Say Again Over]

I will wait to hear from someone that knows more on the subject, my guess is that the MMEL is not legal for your operation until the program is approved by the PMI (or FSDO depending on the FAR's you operate under).

 

[avbug]

Certain aircraft have developed for them a Master Minimum Equipment List, or MMEL. Many operators or individuals seek to obtain approval for a MEL based on items taken from the MMEL, and the FAA will approve each one on a case by case basis. MEL items do not have to come from the MMEL, either; they can come from any reasonable source as long as they can be shown to be relevant and gain approval.

The MEL constitutes a supplemental type certificate. When an item on an aircraft is inoperative, and the aircraft does not meet it's type certification (an inoperative nav light, for example), it must be altered in a manner acceptable to the administrator. The MEL serves as a preapproved STC, or supplemental type certificate, which grants temporary authorization to operate under certain conditions with inoperative equipment. It changes the type certificate by supplementing it, and is therefore directly applicable to the airworthiness of the aircraft.

Because this is the case, the MEL is part of the approved aircraft documents, and is aircraft-specific. A fleet may be put on the same MEL and named, but each aircraft on the MEL must be named, and the MEL document in each aircraft is aircraft-specific.

You cannot pick up the MEL for another aircraft and use it for your airplane, nor can you use the MMEL unless that particular copy has been specifically approved for your aircraft. This is the case regardless of the regulations under which you're operating, be it Part 91, 121, 125, or 135 for that matter. You still need the approval.

 

[grumman38]

Thanks, Well put!NT

Thanks, Well put!

 

[midlifeflyer]

The MEL constitutes a supplemental type certificate.

That is a terrific comparison. And the follow up ain't bad either!

 

[MauleSkinner]

Can the original MEL from the factory...

Just to clarify terminology, what comes in the AFM from the factory isn't an MEL...it's a "Kinds of Operations Equipment List". If an item can be deferred without an MEL per 91.213 (obviously not for a turbine airplane, as in the OP), the KOEL must be consulted. As Avbug mentioned, information other than an MMEL can be used to develop an MEL, and a KOEL would be another good source of that information.Fly safe!David