Narrative:

Was on a short call; crew desk called [in the early morning] and assigned [this flight]; and please get to the airport as soon as possible; the aircraft had been a double gate return; I was at the airport [a half hour later]; no flight officers present; called dispatch as no flight plan; my name was not yet on the flight so I could not see that she had release 5 and was having problems getting it to work; [company software] nor ipad app would allow me to declare fit for duty for some time; eventually was able to see release 5 but it had a much lower fuel request than agreed upon; meanwhile she conferenced me with [maintenance control] re: 'partially open engine anti-ice valve': (there was no reference in the MEL to flight into known icing conditions and the dispatcher; maintenance tech; nor myself had never seen this before; so we read through everything carefully to make sure that there would be adequate engine anti-ice capability with a partially open valve- I suggest a re-write of this MEL item to clarify); I called the [duty manager] as I was disconnected from dispatch and unable to get past a voicemail prompt; he informed me that she was working on it but that the proper flight plan was release 4; which I was not able to see; finally found the flying first officer who had been at the aircraft struggling with loading the FMC who told me about a looming flight attendant duty expiration and that the aircraft was boarded already. He also was unable to see his assignment nor the flight plan on the ipad app; I proceeded to the aircraft to ascertain the flight attendant situation; as we still did not have our relief pilot; and briefed the customers and flight attendants and csr's as to our progress; finally received release 4 and printed the package as the relief first officer arrived; all went to the aircraft and proceeded to preflight and load; still big problems loading the flight plans; winds; etc.; plus we were still not showing as the pilots of record in ACARS; multiple calls to dispatch and the [duty manager] for help; finally pushed; but revised clearance from ATC came across and we loaded it; an entirely new route and track; push crew was unable for a reported tug or tow bar issue to push us to the spot ramp control wanted us; but ramp control said we would be fine; after disconnect and salute; I called dispatch to clarify what was going on with the route as we were indicating insufficient fuel; she determined that the re-route was the original release from earlier in the evening and refilled; meanwhile we were blocking the alley for multiple aircraft; by this time; with a messed up FMC route and release verification (we still weren't showing as the pilots of record in ACARS) I was resistant to start and move the aircraft and burn down our fuel until we at least had a valid flight plan that matched ours; dispatch's; and ATC; enduring repeated badgering by other pilots waiting for access to the alley and the ramp controller; we finally decided to start; do our checklists as best we could considering the conflicted information we had; and head for the box to figure things out; taxiing; and the resultant distracting multiple taxi plan changes was probably a mistake; as it only heightened the confusion; meanwhile; whenever we were stopped; I had multiple calls from the back by flight attendants who are very fatigued and not wanting to depart (they decided they wanted to proceed after all; citing fear of reprisals; as while they were obviously very; very tired; they were technically legal) while also juggling calls to the [duty manager]; dispatch; ATC and ramp control; at this point; the flying first officer announced that he had had enough; and called fatigue- he felt exhausted and was making mistakes and was completely confused with the route and FMC (we all were- by this time; ATC had two flight plans on file and wondered which one we wanted). All this in our weakest circadian low. After a brief discussion we all agreed to return to thegate. Thanks to the supervisors who met us at the gate. Valiant efforts by the crew; the [duty manager]; dispatcher; csr's; fueler; and push crew to get the job done.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: The Captain of a Boeing 777 reported that after a long delay and a short turn for the crew; the flight was canceled.

Narrative: Was on a short call; crew desk called [in the early morning] and assigned [this flight]; and please get to the airport ASAP; the aircraft had been a double gate return; I was at the airport [a half hour later]; no flight officers present; called dispatch as no flight plan; my name was not yet on the flight so I could not see that she had release 5 and was having problems getting it to work; [company software] nor iPad app would allow me to declare fit for duty for some time; eventually was able to see release 5 but it had a much lower fuel request than agreed upon; meanwhile she conferenced me with [maintenance control] re: 'partially open engine anti-ice valve': (there was no reference in the MEL to flight into known icing conditions and the dispatcher; maintenance tech; nor myself had never seen this before; so we read through everything carefully to make sure that there would be adequate engine anti-ice capability with a partially open valve- I suggest a re-write of this MEL item to clarify); I called the [duty manager] as I was disconnected from dispatch and unable to get past a voicemail prompt; He informed me that she was working on it but that the proper flight plan was release 4; which I was not able to see; finally found the flying first officer who had been at the aircraft struggling with loading the FMC who told me about a looming flight attendant duty expiration and that the aircraft was boarded already. He also was unable to see his assignment nor the flight plan on the iPad app; I proceeded to the aircraft to ascertain the flight attendant situation; as we still did not have our relief pilot; and briefed the customers and flight attendants and CSR's as to our progress; finally received release 4 and printed the package as the relief First Officer arrived; all went to the aircraft and proceeded to preflight and load; still big problems loading the flight plans; winds; etc.; plus we were still not showing as the pilots of record in ACARS; multiple calls to dispatch and the [duty manager] for help; finally pushed; but revised clearance from ATC came across and we loaded it; an entirely new route and track; push crew was unable for a reported tug or tow bar issue to push us to the spot ramp control wanted us; but ramp control said we would be fine; after disconnect and salute; I called dispatch to clarify what was going on with the route as we were indicating insufficient fuel; She determined that the re-route was the original release from earlier in the evening and refilled; meanwhile we were blocking the alley for multiple aircraft; by this time; with a messed up FMC route and release verification (we still weren't showing as the pilots of record in ACARS) I was resistant to start and move the aircraft and burn down our fuel until we at least had a valid flight plan that matched ours; dispatch's; and ATC; enduring repeated badgering by other pilots waiting for access to the alley and the ramp controller; we finally decided to start; do our checklists as best we could considering the conflicted information we had; and head for the box to figure things out; taxiing; and the resultant distracting multiple taxi plan changes was probably a mistake; as it only heightened the confusion; meanwhile; whenever we were stopped; I had multiple calls from the back by flight attendants who are very fatigued and not wanting to depart (they decided they wanted to proceed after all; citing fear of reprisals; as while they were obviously very; very tired; they were technically legal) while also juggling calls to the [duty manager]; Dispatch; ATC and ramp control; At this point; the flying first officer announced that he had had enough; and called fatigue- he felt exhausted and was making mistakes and was completely confused with the route and FMC (we all were- by this time; ATC had two flight plans on file and wondered which one we wanted). All this in our weakest circadian low. After a brief discussion we all agreed to return to thegate. Thanks to the supervisors who met us at the gate. Valiant efforts by the crew; the [duty manager]; dispatcher; CSR's; fueler; and push crew to get the job done.

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.