B777 Undifferentiated or Other Model
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Confusion; Time Pressure
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Maintenance; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Hazardous Material Violation; Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Other / Unknown
General Flight Cancelled / Delayed
Aircraft; Company Policy; Procedure; Manuals; Logbook Entry; Human Factors
Flight Attendants discovered a large bio waste bag of material; which seemed to include a seat cushion and which was placed in the overhead compartment in the rear section of coach. The item was not written up in the maintenance history. I looked for guidance in the FOM but found none. Maintenance was on board and indicated that they had taken these actions. The purser stated that they had guidance in their FAOM. I reviewed what I was shown and it seemed vague; appearing to refer to stowage of materials on the flight of event. The mechanics stated that this was a usual procedure; to carry bio-hazard out of the country because it could not be kept in [the country of departure]. He said that was written in their manuals. I asked if he could provide written guidance and he told me it would take him a half hour.I contacted dispatch; maintenance control; and [the duty manager]. Dispatch couldn't find any guidance. I stated that I was fine with any action taken but that I wanted to ensure that whatever we did was safe and legal as I had never heard of this procedure. Maintenance control couldn't find any guidance; except to say that this has always been the procedure; to carry bio-hazard waste out of a country back to the U.S. and put it in an overhead compartment. I...had never seen this procedure but was okay with whatever we did as long as guidance could be shown. The Duty Manager couldn't find any guidance. I was told that a decision was made to remove the bio-hazard waste from the aircraft to expedite departure. The local mechanic stated that the aircraft had arrived this way and that the inbound crew had not written it up. My concern now became one of an undocumented maintenance item that I was aware of and the potential ramifications of dispatching without documenting. I spoke to the dispatcher again and it was decided to document the item in the logbook and have it deferred. I did this and learned from the mechanic; who was in touch with maintenance control; that the MEL deferral number he was familiar with which allowed for carriage of the bio- hazard materials seemed to no longer exist and that there was in fact no such guidance provided for any longer. I looked in the MEL and could not find anything either. In today's environment of potential lethal bio-hazards such as Ebola; and the resulting geo-political; health; and legal ramifications of the handling of such waste; it seems to me that the system broke down on a number of levels. 1) The inbound crew should have written up the items. Our having to handle this and resolve it caused us to be delayed.2) The mechanics and ground crew dealing with these items should have ascertained that everything was properly documented; and they should have noted it in the logbook if the flight crew had not.3) On my commuting flight home later in the day I asked the F/A [her manual] and did discover that there is a reference recently added which accommodates allowance for placing bio-hazard waste in certain areas; including the overhead compartment. I am happy to have seen this. However; this should be in the pilots' FOM as well.This is the second time in a month that I have discovered maintenance items which have not been properly documented and dealt with which caused; in this case a delay for departure on my flight and potentially unsafe conditions; and in the case of a flight last month an overhead sign that was broken and which wasn't documented but had been improperly rigged with safety wire instead of a proper bolt causing it to fall down during taxi; potentially injuring a passenger or crewmember; and then resulting in the cancellation of our flight because of the length of time it would have taken to fix it. I am concerned that seeing two similar events in the course of four weeks may be the tip of the iceberg of unreported and improperly dealt with maintenance.
A B777 Captain about to depart a security sensitive Middle East destination was advised by flight attendants of a bag of bio-hazard waste in an overhead bin that was intended to be transported out of the country. A significant delay occurred as they searched for confirmation of language in writing approving such transportation.