Narrative:

During pre-departure flight planning the captain noted on the flight plan that there was an area of high terrain we would be flying over which was higher than the other high terrain areas we usually overfly in south america. After departure; and enroute; the captain sent a message to dispatch. Basically; he wanted to make them aware of the terrain and to request a depressurization decision point like the one we currently use on UQ108. The terrain on the portion of the flight plan in question was 18;400 feet according to the flight plan; which is above our cabin altitude emergency descent initial level off altitude of 17000 feet.soon after this; I stepped back to take my break. The international relief officer (international relief officer) took my seat. I was gone for approximately 2 hours and 40 minutes.upon my return; I was briefed on the series of acars communication between our flight and dispatch as well as the voice call on satcom between the captain; the dispatcher and the chief pilot on duty; that had occurred during my absence. I was also told that the captain was unable to get a satisfactory resolution from dispatch concerning the high terrain and that we were approaching it soon. So before he went on his break; he instructed us to get clearance from center to fly to a waypoint abeam the high terrain and then back to the route; thus circumnavigating the terrain. This only added about 3 minutes. A message concerning our reroute was also sent to dispatch.ultimately; dispatch did send us a message with acceptable enroute decision point diversion information but unfortunately it was after passing the high terrain. A call to dispatch from ops might have led to a route change satisfactory to both dispatch and crew.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B777 First Officer's lament the lack of standardized contingency plans for route planning in all areas of South America that details procedures for engine failure or depressurization in the vicinity of high terrain.

Narrative: During pre-departure flight planning the Captain noted on the flight plan that there was an area of high terrain we would be flying over which was higher than the other high terrain areas we usually overfly in South America. After departure; and enroute; the Captain sent a message to Dispatch. Basically; he wanted to make them aware of the terrain and to request a depressurization decision point like the one we currently use on UQ108. The terrain on the portion of the flight plan in question was 18;400 feet according to the flight plan; which is above our Cabin Altitude Emergency Descent initial level off altitude of 17000 feet.Soon after this; I stepped back to take my break. The IRO (International Relief Officer) took my seat. I was gone for approximately 2 hours and 40 minutes.Upon my return; I was briefed on the series of ACARs communication between our flight and dispatch as well as the voice call on SATCOM between the Captain; the dispatcher and the Chief Pilot on Duty; that had occurred during my absence. I was also told that the Captain was unable to get a satisfactory resolution from dispatch concerning the high terrain and that we were approaching it soon. So before he went on his break; he instructed us to get clearance from center to fly to a waypoint abeam the high terrain and then back to the route; thus circumnavigating the terrain. This only added about 3 minutes. A message concerning our reroute was also sent to dispatch.Ultimately; dispatch did send us a message with acceptable enroute decision point diversion information but unfortunately it was after passing the high terrain. A call to dispatch from ops might have led to a route change satisfactory to both dispatch and crew.

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.