A pilot reported to his company that while jump seating on another carrier's B737-800 he learned abo...

Narrative:

While jump seating home on another carrier; the pilots asked me if company had any loss of thrust control (lotc) incidents in our 737-800s. I asked them what that was. They told me the following: their company has had several incidents where the engines on their -800s have rolled back toward idle uncommanded. They have told their pilots to disconnect the autopilot; pull the thrust levers back; and it seems to 'reset' the engine and thrust is available again. Apparently other airlines have also encountered this but not as often as another carrier. Their solution to prevent it right now is to fuel to 23;000 pounds minimum. They initially thought it was a winter only problem; but the week following their decision to stop over-fueling; they had another incident. On this particular flight I was on; the pilots showed me the dispatch release that had a comment; 'fueled for left.O.T.C.' they did indeed have over 23;000 pounds of fuel for the 2-1/2 hour flight. They also told me that boeing engineers are engaged; but so far they are all collectively scratching their heads. I spoke to union safety today and they suggested I submit this report to get the information into our system. It may be something we need to look at and it may not. Regardless; I felt strongly enough about it to kick it up the chain of command.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A pilot reported to his Company that while jump seating on another carrier's B737-800 he learned about a loss of thrust control (LOTC) is affecting some of that carriers -800's; but the cause is unknown.

Narrative: While jump seating home on another carrier; the pilots asked me if Company had any Loss Of Thrust Control (LOTC) incidents in our 737-800s. I asked them what that was. They told me the following: Their Company has had several incidents where the engines on their -800s have rolled back toward idle uncommanded. They have told their pilots to disconnect the autopilot; pull the thrust levers back; and it seems to 'reset' the engine and thrust is available again. Apparently other airlines have also encountered this but not as often as another carrier. Their solution to prevent it right now is to fuel to 23;000 LBS minimum. They initially thought it was a winter only problem; but the week following their decision to stop over-fueling; they had another incident. On this particular flight I was on; the pilots showed me the Dispatch Release that had a comment; 'Fueled for L.O.T.C.' They did indeed have over 23;000 LBS of fuel for the 2-1/2 hour flight. They also told me that Boeing Engineers are engaged; but so far they are all collectively scratching their heads. I spoke to Union Safety today and they suggested I submit this report to get the information into our system. It may be something we need to look at and it may not. Regardless; I felt strongly enough about it to kick it up the Chain of Command.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

Attributes
ACN	1028535
Time
Date	201208
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B737-800
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Engine Control
Person 1
Function	Other / Unknown
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical

A pilot reported to his company that while jump seating on another carrier's B737-800 he learned about a loss of thrust control (lotc) is affecting some of that carriers -800's; but the cause is unknown.