MD-83
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Communication Breakdown; Time Pressure; Workload
Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural MEL / CDL
Flight Crew Became Reoriented; General Maintenance Action
Environment - Non Weather Related; Aircraft; Human Factors; Procedure
Inbound flight attendants reported a seat back was broken and failed to stay upright. A maintenance code and write-up was entered into the logbook. Due to thunderstorms the flight was late with a quick turn. The seat was blocked and the back secured in the upright position. Due to the fact that the seat back was secured in the upright position and the seat not used; we assumed that the matter could be dealt with at the next station (the Captain's write-up was info to Maintenance). We discovered on the flight to our destination that the write-up should have been cleared by Maintenance back at the previous station. In the future any logbook write up should be discussed with Maintenance and the MEL procedures checked before making the decision to proceed with the flight.
Things are always changing and I assumed it was no big deal to leave with a seat inoperative that was not being used. I have learned my lesson and will never takeoff without looking up an item in the MEL. One suggestion we could do as a company is that if an arm code is sent that requires Maintenance to address the issue (i.e. not crew placard-able); would be to notify Operations by an automated system tied to the arm codes to call Contract Maintenance to expedite the operations and prevent overlooking an item that needs to be addressed by Maintenance to prevent other crews from possibly making a similar mistake. I made an assumption and will not in the future.
A MD-83 flight crew erroneously departed with an open cabin seatback write up because the seat was not being occupied and was fixed upright.