Narrative:

I am employed by air carrier X as a DC10 first officer. On mar/xx/97, I was flying from las vegas to houston international airport. Our alternate was houston hobby. En route we received a WX report from FSS that showed the WX at iah deteriorating. After checking the required minimums for iah and reviewing the iah charts, I started to look at the charts for hobby-hou. During this review I found a notation on the commercial chart limiting hou to aircraft with a wing span of 117 ft or less. My DC10-10 has a wing span of 155 ft! A diversion and landing at hou would have probably required a declaration of emergency to land at hou and might have resulted in a closed runway due to our inability to exit on the narrow txwys at hou. In addition, our flight engineer discovered that we did not have landing performance data on board the aircraft for hou, and dispatch did not have the data at homebase. This situation arose due to our trust in the dispatch function. It would be prudent to check the alternate airport for any close in reliever airport that is used as an alternate, such as dallas love, chicago midway, etc. I do check alternate airport data very carefully on all international flts and will now be more vigilant on domestic also. I have raised this issue with our dispatch manager, and have been told that hou will no longer be used as an alternate airport for iah.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: FLC OF A DC10-10 ACCEPTED AN UNUSABLE ALTERNATE ARPT FOR THEIR ACFT WING WIDTH SIZE. THE COMPANY HAS SINCE DELETED THE ARPT AS A POSSIBLE ALTERNATE.

Narrative: I AM EMPLOYED BY ACR X AS A DC10 FO. ON MAR/XX/97, I WAS FLYING FROM LAS VEGAS TO HOUSTON INTL ARPT. OUR ALTERNATE WAS HOUSTON HOBBY. ENRTE WE RECEIVED A WX RPT FROM FSS THAT SHOWED THE WX AT IAH DETERIORATING. AFTER CHKING THE REQUIRED MINIMUMS FOR IAH AND REVIEWING THE IAH CHARTS, I STARTED TO LOOK AT THE CHARTS FOR HOBBY-HOU. DURING THIS REVIEW I FOUND A NOTATION ON THE COMMERCIAL CHART LIMITING HOU TO ACFT WITH A WING SPAN OF 117 FT OR LESS. MY DC10-10 HAS A WING SPAN OF 155 FT! A DIVERSION AND LNDG AT HOU WOULD HAVE PROBABLY REQUIRED A DECLARATION OF EMER TO LAND AT HOU AND MIGHT HAVE RESULTED IN A CLOSED RWY DUE TO OUR INABILITY TO EXIT ON THE NARROW TXWYS AT HOU. IN ADDITION, OUR FE DISCOVERED THAT WE DID NOT HAVE LNDG PERFORMANCE DATA ON BOARD THE ACFT FOR HOU, AND DISPATCH DID NOT HAVE THE DATA AT HOMEBASE. THIS SIT AROSE DUE TO OUR TRUST IN THE DISPATCH FUNCTION. IT WOULD BE PRUDENT TO CHK THE ALTERNATE ARPT FOR ANY CLOSE IN RELIEVER ARPT THAT IS USED AS AN ALTERNATE, SUCH AS DALLAS LOVE, CHICAGO MIDWAY, ETC. I DO CHK ALTERNATE ARPT DATA VERY CAREFULLY ON ALL INTL FLTS AND WILL NOW BE MORE VIGILANT ON DOMESTIC ALSO. I HAVE RAISED THIS ISSUE WITH OUR DISPATCH MGR, AND HAVE BEEN TOLD THAT HOU WILL NO LONGER BE USED AS AN ALTERNATE ARPT FOR IAH.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 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.