 |
37000 Feet | Browse and search NASA's Aviation Safety Reporting System |
|
Dispatcher reports difficulty with the communication capabilities of his dispatch computer system which he believes is symptomatic of wider problems with the system.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1086611 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201305 |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | Commercial Fixed Wing |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Dispatcher |
| Qualification | Dispatch Dispatcher |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Other Dispatcher comm equipment |
Narrative:
The ACARS functionality to alert all sector flights of an important message at the same time failed. Due to the [dispatch computer] outage we needed to quickly alert all airborne flights of the inability to receive ACARS messages and to contact dispatch via commercial radio if needed. When I and others tried this; it sent the messages to other flights that weren't in our sectors and only to some flights in our sectors. Whilst this functionality is not an far requirement; it's indicative of a wider system failure of vital communication with company aircraft. Again; part of an increasing risk factor that could contribute to an incident.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: Dispatcher reports difficulty with the communication capabilities of his dispatch computer system which he believes is symptomatic of wider problems with the system.
Narrative: The ACARS functionality to alert all sector flights of an important message at the same time failed. Due to the [dispatch computer] outage we needed to quickly alert all airborne flights of the inability to receive ACARS messages and to contact Dispatch via Commercial Radio if needed. When I and others tried this; it sent the messages to other flights that weren't in our sectors and only to some flights in our sectors. Whilst this functionality is not an FAR requirement; it's indicative of a wider system failure of vital communication with company aircraft. Again; part of an increasing risk factor that could contribute to an incident.
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.