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Air carrier pilot reported both autopilots malfunctioned and they had to hand fly an international long distance flight and divert to a closer airport.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1651384 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201906 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ZZZZ.ARTCC |
| State Reference | FO |
| Environment | |
| Flight Conditions | IMC |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | B737 Undifferentiated or Other Model |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | Climb Cruise Descent |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Component | |
| Aircraft Component | Autopilot |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Captain |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) Flight Crew Multiengine |
| Experience | Flight Crew Last 90 Days 225 Flight Crew Total 3608 Flight Crew Type 3608 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe |
Narrative:
After departure out of ZZZZ and climbing through approximately 15;000 feet; the first officer; as the pilot flying; attempted to engage the autopilot. He was unsuccessful in his attempts to engage either autopilot. We coordinated to remain out of rvsm airspace and stabilized the aircraft situation to include PF duties and backup monitoring. Myself; as the pilot monitoring; troubleshot and coordinated with ATC; dispatch; and maintenance. After concluding the troubleshooting phase; it was determined that we would not recover any autopilot for the 5:30 min flight. Additionally we would not have enough gas to go to ZZZ. After coordination with the company; ZZZ1 was determined to be the best diversion point. When entering center airspace; we [advised ATC] due to the increased traffic volume and the more dynamic flying environment of the descent and approach phase; particularly after a fatiguing 4 hours of hand flying and troubleshooting and diversion coordination. An uneventful landing followed and maintenance took the aircraft to the hangar to fix a hard wire issue.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: Air carrier pilot reported both autopilots malfunctioned and they had to hand fly an international long distance flight and divert to a closer airport.
Narrative: After departure out of ZZZZ and climbing through approximately 15;000 feet; the First Officer; as the Pilot Flying; attempted to engage the autopilot. He was unsuccessful in his attempts to engage either autopilot. We coordinated to remain out of RVSM airspace and stabilized the aircraft situation to include PF duties and backup monitoring. Myself; as the Pilot Monitoring; troubleshot and coordinated with ATC; Dispatch; and Maintenance. After concluding the troubleshooting phase; it was determined that we would not recover any autopilot for the 5:30 min flight. Additionally we would not have enough gas to go to ZZZ. After coordination with the Company; ZZZ1 was determined to be the best diversion point. When entering Center airspace; we [advised ATC] due to the increased traffic volume and the more dynamic flying environment of the descent and approach phase; particularly after a fatiguing 4 hours of hand flying and troubleshooting and diversion coordination. An uneventful landing followed and Maintenance took the aircraft to the hangar to fix a hard wire issue.
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.