Narrative:

We were scheduled to fly a B747-400 [on a trans-atlantic flight to the west coast].we completed our preflight briefing; including the phone call to dispatch and headed out to the gate to meet the delayed aircraft. [Destination] weather was expected to be stormy.the aircraft [logbook] indicated no active write ups.while I was briefing the purser; [the] first officer proceeded to the flight deck to begin his duties. During the course of performing his cockpit setup; [he] discovered that the FMC database had expired [approximately] 48 hours [ago]. He also discovered that both of the jeppesen paper chart sets were approximately two weeks out of date.additionally; according to [a company bulletin] all of our company issued ipads were subject to jeppesen navigation data errors affecting shanwick oceanic fir; (eggx); london fir; (egtt); and scottish fir; (egpx).we thus had an unprecedented situation where all of our primary; secondary and backup navigation systems were either out of date; unavailable or corrupted. [The first officer] took the initiative and immediately contacted dispatch via satcom. When I arrived at the flight deck a few minutes later; [he] was already having a discussion with dispatch and the [manager on duty] about the situation; and possible remedies.after a series of discussions; with no immediate solution found; we were offered the MEL procedure for flying the aircraft without a current FMC navigation database. This process involves; 1. Using current paper navigation charts to verify navigation fixes; routes; and airports including enroute alternates; prior to dispatch. (Current paper charts which we did not have) 2. Dispatch to verify all sids and stars for the departure and destination airports. 3. Dispatch must coordinate with ATC to verify all fixes and navaids if a reroute becomes necessary after departure. 4. Many other details too numerous to mention in this narrative.perhaps this procedure might work to fly [a domestic flight] on a clear weather day; but it would be foolishly unwise to attempt this MEL procedure for an international flight of 10:55 hours; through europe; iceland; greenland; the canadian arctic and canadian rockies; then into the [west coast] with a major fall storm affecting our destination.it was decided that we could borrow paper jeppesen charts from the inbound [flight]; which was several hours late due to its own maintenance problems.after numerous consultations with dispatch; the maintenance staff were able to determine that they could use the FMC disks from that aircraft to update our aircraft FMC as well.however; we had to wait for the delayed arrival of [the inbound flight]; before we could proceed with the plan. As soon as the inbound aircraft arrived; I immediately began making efforts to obtain the needed paper charts etc. But we had to wait until the passengers were off and customs had released the airplane which meant even more of a delay.after personally retrieving the paper charts; I eventually returned with them to the flight deck; and met the technicians who had also obtained the needed floppy disks from [the inbound flight] to update the FMC.because I could not get an accurate time estimate for the repairs; I was sure that we would run out of duty time and be unable to fly to [original destination]. Again; I informed all parties of this fact.we finally got both fmcs updated; we now had one set of paper charts; borrowed from another aircraft; and we did run out of duty time. We found a solution and flew to [a closer destination] instead of [our original destination].having to re-accomplish all of the flight planning to [our new destination] created a lot of extra work; which my crew accomplished calmly; systematically and professionally without complaint. I have nothing but the highest praise for [both first officers]. In spite of all the unnecessary distractions; they performed their duties safely; calmly and efficiently. They are both a credit to this profession.also; [the] operations staff deserve the highest praise for going above and beyond in their efforts to help us solve problems that they did not create; and to finally depart safely.finally; there are serious maintenance deficiencies now occurring regularly in the B747 fleet; and this is just one of many.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B747-400 Captain reported dealing with a number of maintenance issues related to navigation capabilities before his transatlantic flight.

Narrative: We were scheduled to fly a B747-400 [on a trans-Atlantic flight to the west coast].We completed our preflight briefing; including the phone call to Dispatch and headed out to the gate to meet the delayed aircraft. [Destination] weather was expected to be stormy.The aircraft [logbook] indicated no active write ups.While I was briefing the Purser; [the] First Officer proceeded to the flight deck to begin his duties. During the course of performing his cockpit setup; [he] discovered that the FMC database had expired [approximately] 48 hours [ago]. He also discovered that both of the Jeppesen paper chart sets were approximately two weeks out of date.Additionally; according to [a company bulletin] all of our company issued iPads were subject to Jeppesen navigation data errors affecting Shanwick Oceanic FIR; (EGGX); London FIR; (EGTT); and Scottish FIR; (EGPX).We thus had an unprecedented situation where all of our primary; secondary and backup navigation systems were either out of date; unavailable or corrupted. [The First Officer] took the initiative and immediately contacted Dispatch via SATCOM. When I arrived at the flight deck a few minutes later; [he] was already having a discussion with Dispatch and the [manager on duty] about the situation; and possible remedies.After a series of discussions; with no immediate solution found; we were offered the MEL procedure for flying the aircraft without a current FMC navigation database. This process involves; 1. Using current paper navigation charts to verify navigation fixes; routes; and airports including enroute alternates; prior to dispatch. (Current paper charts which we did not have) 2. Dispatch to verify all SIDs and STARS for the departure and destination airports. 3. Dispatch must coordinate with ATC to verify all fixes and NAVAIDS if a reroute becomes necessary after departure. 4. Many other details too numerous to mention in this narrative.Perhaps this procedure might work to fly [a domestic flight] on a clear weather day; but it would be foolishly unwise to attempt this MEL procedure for an international flight of 10:55 hours; through Europe; Iceland; Greenland; the Canadian Arctic and Canadian Rockies; then into the [west coast] with a major fall storm affecting our destination.It was decided that we could borrow paper Jeppesen charts from the inbound [flight]; which was several hours late due to its own maintenance problems.After numerous consultations with Dispatch; the maintenance staff were able to determine that they could use the FMC disks from that aircraft to update our aircraft FMC as well.However; we had to wait for the delayed arrival of [the inbound flight]; before we could proceed with the plan. As soon as the inbound aircraft arrived; I immediately began making efforts to obtain the needed paper charts etc. But we had to wait until the passengers were off and customs had released the airplane which meant even more of a delay.After personally retrieving the paper charts; I eventually returned with them to the flight deck; and met the technicians who had also obtained the needed floppy disks from [the inbound flight] to update the FMC.Because I could not get an accurate time estimate for the repairs; I was sure that we would run out of duty time and be unable to fly to [original destination]. Again; I informed all parties of this fact.We finally got both FMCS updated; we now had one set of paper charts; borrowed from another aircraft; and we did run out of duty time. We found a solution and flew to [a closer destination] instead of [our original destination].Having to re-accomplish all of the flight planning to [our new destination] created a lot of extra work; which my crew accomplished calmly; systematically and professionally without complaint. I have nothing but the highest praise for [both First Officers]. In spite of all the unnecessary distractions; they performed their duties safely; calmly and efficiently. They are both a credit to this profession.Also; [the] operations staff deserve the highest praise for going above and beyond in their efforts to help us solve problems that they did not create; and to finally depart safely.Finally; there are serious maintenance deficiencies now occurring regularly in the B747 fleet; and this is just one of many.

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.