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B747-400 captain reported difficulty loading certain waypoints into the FMC on a flight departing yssy.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1113919 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201309 |
| Local Time Of Day | 1201-1800 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | YSSY.Airport |
| State Reference | FO |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | B747-400 |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | Parked |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Captain Pilot Flying |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) |
| Experience | Flight Crew Last 90 Days 230 Flight Crew Total 22900 Flight Crew Type 380 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy |
Narrative:
During cockpit setup; the route was uploaded to the FMC; then loaded; activated and executed. During first waypoint/route check; there were two route discontinuities and missing waypoints (30s63 and 15n42). After a short discussion; we deleted the entire route from the FMC; and requested another route upload. The second route was again loaded; activated and executed; with the same two discontinuities and missing waypoints. We then tried to manually enter the route names (30s63 and 15n42); but the FMC message was; 'not in database' and we could not enter the [waypoints].we tried to enter the waypoint by the short lat/long criteria (s30e163 and n15w142); but the FMC would not accept those either. Finally the FMC accepted the waypoints by entering the entire lat/long (S3000.0e16300.0 and N1500.0w14200.0). We individually and collectively checked the courses and distances against the ofp; and then departed. Dispatch was notified via sat phone once we were in cruise; and they passed on to maintenance. At first we thought that the route uploads were corrupted; but later figured that it was an FMC database problem; since the FMC did not recognize the waypoint name. The process took about 10-15 minutes to troubleshoot and resolve.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: B747-400 Captain reported difficulty loading certain waypoints into the FMC on a flight departing YSSY.
Narrative: During cockpit setup; the route was uploaded to the FMC; then loaded; activated and executed. During first waypoint/route check; there were two route discontinuities and missing waypoints (30S63 and 15N42). After a short discussion; we deleted the entire route from the FMC; and requested another route upload. The second route was again loaded; activated and executed; with the same two discontinuities and missing waypoints. We then tried to manually enter the route names (30S63 and 15N42); but the FMC message was; 'Not in database' and we could not enter the [waypoints].We tried to enter the waypoint by the short Lat/Long criteria (S30E163 and N15W142); but the FMC would not accept those either. Finally the FMC accepted the waypoints by entering the entire Lat/Long (S3000.0E16300.0 and N1500.0W14200.0). We individually and collectively checked the courses and distances against the OFP; and then departed. Dispatch was notified via SAT phone once we were in cruise; and they passed on to Maintenance. At first we thought that the route uploads were corrupted; but later figured that it was an FMC database problem; since the FMC did not recognize the waypoint name. The process took about 10-15 minutes to troubleshoot and resolve.
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.