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An air carrier dispatcher reports that his company receives WX information from a contractor that is not complete and is often out of date. He states that this system has had numerous outages.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 388228 |
| Time | |
| Date | 199712 |
| Day | Wed |
| Local Time Of Day | 1201 To 1800 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | airport : phx |
| State Reference | AZ |
| Altitude | agl bound lower : 0 agl bound upper : 0 |
| Environment | |
| Light | Daylight |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Operator | common carrier : air carrier |
| Make Model Name | Any Unknown or Unlisted Aircraft Manufacturer |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Person 1 | |
| Affiliation | company : air carrier |
| Function | other personnel |
| Qualification | other |
| ASRS Report | 388228 |
| Person 2 | |
| Affiliation | company : air carrier |
| Function | oversight : supervisor |
| Qualification | other |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | inflight encounter : weather other anomaly other |
| Independent Detector | other other : unspecified |
| Resolutory Action | none taken : anomaly accepted |
| Consequence | Other |
| Supplementary | |
| Air Traffic Incident | other |
Narrative:
Due to all radar feeds into the WX program issued by a contractor, the dispatchers on duty did not have any maps to plan their flts other than prog charts. Since the dispatch does not receive special observations, amended forecasts, airmets and sigmets at the workstation printers, the dispatcher is limited to the current WX information. Management has been notified of this problem and has not corrected the situation. In my opinion this is creating a hazard to flight, not to be able to plan around 'known' turbulence and follow the progress of snow and thunderstorms. I am only able to dispatch aircraft based on current available information, even if it is hours old, and prog charts. Since the company has installed the contracted flight planning system, we have had continuous outages such as this.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: AN ACR DISPATCHER RPTS THAT HIS COMPANY RECEIVES WX INFO FROM A CONTRACTOR THAT IS NOT COMPLETE AND IS OFTEN OUT OF DATE. HE STATES THAT THIS SYS HAS HAD NUMEROUS OUTAGES.
Narrative: DUE TO ALL RADAR FEEDS INTO THE WX PROGRAM ISSUED BY A CONTRACTOR, THE DISPATCHERS ON DUTY DID NOT HAVE ANY MAPS TO PLAN THEIR FLTS OTHER THAN PROG CHARTS. SINCE THE DISPATCH DOES NOT RECEIVE SPECIAL OBSERVATIONS, AMENDED FORECASTS, AIRMETS AND SIGMETS AT THE WORKSTATION PRINTERS, THE DISPATCHER IS LIMITED TO THE CURRENT WX INFO. MGMNT HAS BEEN NOTIFIED OF THIS PROB AND HAS NOT CORRECTED THE SIT. IN MY OPINION THIS IS CREATING A HAZARD TO FLT, NOT TO BE ABLE TO PLAN AROUND 'KNOWN' TURB AND FOLLOW THE PROGRESS OF SNOW AND TSTMS. I AM ONLY ABLE TO DISPATCH ACFT BASED ON CURRENT AVAILABLE INFO, EVEN IF IT IS HRS OLD, AND PROG CHARTS. SINCE THE COMPANY HAS INSTALLED THE CONTRACTED FLT PLANNING SYS, WE HAVE HAD CONTINUOUS OUTAGES SUCH AS THIS.
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.