An air carrier dispatcher discovered that their flight planning dispatch database included a planned...

Narrative:

I used ZZZ as an alternate for kpdx the alternate routing in the company data base is kpdx...btg V448 ZZZ VOR... ZZZ. The system filed the altitude altitude at 13;000 ft [although] the MEA is 14;500 ft. This is apparently an issue when using ZZZ as an alternate for kpdx as other occurrences were found when looked into. In some cases the altitude altitude was filed as low as 9;000 ft. [I found several flights in the past with similar errors; one filed as low as 9;000 ft.] our flight planning software [had] filed an altitude to alternate airport below MEA and neither I nor the flight crew noticed. The error was found by another dispatcher doing some research for another unrelated safety report.[we must have] a floor altitude for alternate route from kpdx to ZZZ set to 14;500 ft (MEA). I will watch more closely what altitude the system is filing for alternate airports.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An Air Carrier Dispatcher discovered that their flight planning dispatch database included a planned enroute altitude for a diversion from PDX to ZZZ of only 13;000 FT when the highest MEA on the route was 14;500 FT.

Narrative: I used ZZZ as an alternate for KPDX the alternate routing in the company data base is KPDX...BTG V448 ZZZ VOR... ZZZ. The system filed the ALT altitude at 13;000 FT [although] the MEA is 14;500 FT. This is apparently an issue when using ZZZ as an alternate for KPDX as other occurrences were found when looked into. In some cases the ALT altitude was filed as low as 9;000 FT. [I found several flights in the past with similar errors; one filed as low as 9;000 FT.] Our flight planning software [had] filed an altitude to alternate airport below MEA and neither I nor the flight crew noticed. The error was found by another dispatcher doing some research for another unrelated safety report.[We must have] a floor altitude for alternate route from KPDX to ZZZ set to 14;500 FT (MEA). I will watch more closely what altitude the system is filing for alternate airports.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site 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	1222710
Time
Date	201412
Place
Locale Reference	PDX.Airport
State Reference	OR
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Commercial Fixed Wing
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Cruise
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Dispatcher
Qualification	Dispatch Dispatcher
Events
Anomaly	Deviation - Procedural FAR Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy

An air carrier dispatcher discovered that their flight planning dispatch database included a planned enroute altitude for a diversion from pdx to ZZZ of only 13;000 ft when the highest MEA on the route was 14;500 ft.