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Air carrier captain reported being unable to contact medical via satcom creating a divert event for an ill passenger.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1698693 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201911 |
| Local Time Of Day | 1201-1800 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ZZZ.Airport |
| State Reference | US |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | Commercial Fixed Wing |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | Cruise |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Component | |
| Aircraft Component | Air/Ground Communication |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Captain |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Illness |
Narrative:
Elderly passenger approximately 70 years old experienced a heart condition episode during our flight from ZZZ to ZZZ1. My understanding that it was possibly related to possible pre-existing conditions of diabetes and/or heart disease. Multiple attempts were made to contact medlink unsuccessfully until it was too late to risk continuing the flight to ZZZ1 and therefore a diversion was made. Obviously; this was an old [aircraft] that had no satcom.this event began about 160 miles prior to destination. We had very little time to make the diversion decision without the aid of a medlink professional; therefore for the safety of the passenger and the lack of any other expert opinion or information; the diversion was made to ZZZ. The stress and complexity of this situation was increasingly compounded by the frustrating failure to contact medlink. No airinc frequency worked. We tried multiple frequencies; and at least a couple other frequencies that were suggested to us by dispatch and other company aircraft attempting to help us. Obviously; this was an old [aircraft] that had no satcom or we would have used that. Get satcom on all planes.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: Air carrier Captain reported being unable to contact medical via SATCOM creating a divert event for an ill passenger.
Narrative: Elderly passenger approximately 70 years old experienced a heart condition episode during our flight from ZZZ to ZZZ1. My understanding that it was possibly related to possible pre-existing conditions of diabetes and/or heart disease. Multiple attempts were made to contact Medlink unsuccessfully until it was too late to risk continuing the flight to ZZZ1 and therefore a diversion was made. Obviously; this was an old [aircraft] that had no SATCOM.This event began about 160 miles prior to destination. We had very little time to make the diversion decision without the aid of a Medlink professional; therefore for the safety of the passenger and the lack of any other expert opinion or information; the diversion was made to ZZZ. The stress and complexity of this situation was increasingly compounded by the frustrating failure to contact Medlink. NO AIRINC FREQUENCY WORKED. We tried multiple frequencies; and at least a couple other frequencies that were suggested to us by Dispatch and other company aircraft attempting to help us. Obviously; this was an old [aircraft] that had no SATCOM or we would have used that. Get SATCOM on all planes.
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.