MD-11
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 103; Flight Crew Total 10340; Flight Crew Type 1145
Confusion; Time Pressure; Communication Breakdown
Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
Flight Crew Overcame Equipment Problem; General Maintenance Action
Logbook Entry; Human Factors; Incorrect / Not Installed / Unavailable Part
Upon taxi out when the Captain set the trim during the after start checklist flow; we noticed that the Captain's yoke was actually a First Officer's yoke with the trim; PTT and A/P disconnect located on the right side. It was obviously a mistake.  We had seen the write-up for the PTT on the captain's side had been cleared with the installation of the yoke.   Although this seemed unusual we believed that this must have been a legal repair.  We both knew that the trim on the yoke; the PTT and the A/P disc. are all deferrable but in this case they worked fine except they were on the wrong side of the control.  It was my leg as the first officer and all the controls worked and we believed that since nothing was actually mechanically broken we were legal to depart. Guidance as to which parts are correct is not in any manuals that we are given. The yoke is not even described in the systems manual to show which yoke is the required and correct part.  Have Maintenance look closer at the parts before installed.
Reporter stated he was also a Captain and the pilot flying in the First Officer's seat. All the thumb control switches for the Stab Trim; PTT and Autopilot (A/P) disconnect were functional on his First Officer yoke. Although the Captain's position had a First Officer's yoke installed; all of the switch functions were operational during taxi out. The only difference was the Captain had to use his right thumb instead of his left. Manual Stab Trim was available; but since the First Officer's position was flying; Stab Trim was not an issue for that flight leg going to their base operations. They could not write-up any control wheel or thumb switch function as inoperative; because everything worked. Since they had no reason to doubt that Maintenance had approval to install a First Officer's yoke in the Captain's position to address the previous intermittent PTT switch discrepancy; they continued with their departure.
On Log page; Captain's Yoke PTT (Push to Talk) switch was written up as intermittent. It was deferred as per the MEL. The Aircraft was in the ZZZ gateway for Maintenance for the weekend. On log page XXXX-4; Captain's PTT was addressed. R+R (Remove and Replaced) Captain's Control Wheel ops check good no defects; the MEL was closed by ZZZ Maintenance. October 2014; I received the airplane to fly it from to ZZZ-ZZZ1 with one MEL on the deferral log 33-11-1 Thrust Module Background Lights-Cockpit and Instrument Lighting System. After pushback; when it came time to set the trim for takeoff is the first time I noticed the yoke on the Captain's side was replaced with a First Officer's yoke. All the trim switches worked correctly and the autopilot disconnect switch also worked correctly. The only difference was that the switches were on the right side of the yoke not on the left. After reviewing the log book and seeing the yoke was replaced and signed-off by ZZZ Maintenance; I thought that the repair was correct and was a approved fix for the MEL.  The First Officer was the Flying Pilot and the Captain was the Pilot Monitoring on our leg to ZZZ1.  While flying to ZZZ1; the PTT switch on the Captain's side yoke became intermittent again and was written up in the log book. Upon Landing in ZZZ1; the aircraft was met by Maintenance Control and a ACP (Assistant Chief Pilot) upon the Captain's request to discuss the Yoke problem. I was informed that the wrong part number may have been used or the wrong part number placed on the yoke resulting in the wrong yoke being used to clear the MEL by ZZZ Maintenance.
Two pilots explain why they decided to continue with their departure after realizing during taxi-out that the control yoke on the Captain's side had been replaced with a yoke for the First Officer's position. The Captain's yoke on the MD-11 aircraft was previously replaced due to an intermittent Push to Talk (PTT) switch.