Narrative:

We were in cruise at FL390 and noticed that the left oil psi was in the amber band. We pulled the checklist out and after some confusion with the first bold face item, we decided we fell into the amber band section. It said operate at idle and land at nearest suitable. After calling dispatch (who wanted us to go to ZZZ1, but we didn't have charts for it) and maintenance (who wanted us to continue -- unbelievable), we decided to proceed to ZZZ. It was close, we had charts and I was familiar with the airport having flown commuters in there. We finished checklists, but failed to do the driftdown qrc, even though we accomplished all items just by maintaining aircraft control, briefed passenger and flight attendants, declared emergency and landed without incident. The fire trucks were standing by and after landing, we had all normal indications with some smell of exhaust in the cabin. We had a slight tailwind and figured this was normal. We taxied to the ramp and stayed on tower frequency who liaison with crash fire rescue equipment. They didn't say anything to us, and we thought all was normal. We shut down both engines and all indications indicated a normal shutdown, then we saw smoke from left side. I went back and looked from cabin and all smoke was gone. We thought it was normal smoke from residual fuel on shutdown. The fire fighters were getting hoses out and standing around, but not saying anything to us. We felt totally out of the loop and finally pressured tower to get some information from crash fire rescue equipment. They came back and said chief saw flames, and they were extinguishing them. We were debating evacuate/evacuation, but didn't want to without more information. Finally, after inquiring with tower several times, they said fire was out. It was very frustrating to not have a direct line with crash fire rescue equipment. I felt like we were making uneducated decisions about evacuate/evacuation. All passenger exited under normal means and we communicated with maintenance and crew desk. Callback conversation with reporter revealed the following information: the reporter stated the cause of the left engine low oil pressure was not released by maintenance. The reporter said the only information given to the crew was the engine was changed. The reporter stated it was not known to the crew if the engine was at fault or a defective indicator.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B767-200 IN CRUISE AT FL390 DECLARED AN EMER AND DIVERTED DUE TO L ENG LOW OIL PRESSURE. CAUSE UNKNOWN, ENG CHANGE. BREAKDOWN COORD BTWN FLT CREW AND CFR REQUIRING TWR INTERVENTION.

Narrative: WE WERE IN CRUISE AT FL390 AND NOTICED THAT THE L OIL PSI WAS IN THE AMBER BAND. WE PULLED THE CHKLIST OUT AND AFTER SOME CONFUSION WITH THE FIRST BOLD FACE ITEM, WE DECIDED WE FELL INTO THE AMBER BAND SECTION. IT SAID OPERATE AT IDLE AND LAND AT NEAREST SUITABLE. AFTER CALLING DISPATCH (WHO WANTED US TO GO TO ZZZ1, BUT WE DIDN'T HAVE CHARTS FOR IT) AND MAINT (WHO WANTED US TO CONTINUE -- UNBELIEVABLE), WE DECIDED TO PROCEED TO ZZZ. IT WAS CLOSE, WE HAD CHARTS AND I WAS FAMILIAR WITH THE ARPT HAVING FLOWN COMMUTERS IN THERE. WE FINISHED CHKLISTS, BUT FAILED TO DO THE DRIFTDOWN QRC, EVEN THOUGH WE ACCOMPLISHED ALL ITEMS JUST BY MAINTAINING ACFT CTL, BRIEFED PAX AND FLT ATTENDANTS, DECLARED EMER AND LANDED WITHOUT INCIDENT. THE FIRE TRUCKS WERE STANDING BY AND AFTER LNDG, WE HAD ALL NORMAL INDICATIONS WITH SOME SMELL OF EXHAUST IN THE CABIN. WE HAD A SLIGHT TAILWIND AND FIGURED THIS WAS NORMAL. WE TAXIED TO THE RAMP AND STAYED ON TWR FREQ WHO LIAISON WITH CFR. THEY DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING TO US, AND WE THOUGHT ALL WAS NORMAL. WE SHUT DOWN BOTH ENGS AND ALL INDICATIONS INDICATED A NORMAL SHUTDOWN, THEN WE SAW SMOKE FROM L SIDE. I WENT BACK AND LOOKED FROM CABIN AND ALL SMOKE WAS GONE. WE THOUGHT IT WAS NORMAL SMOKE FROM RESIDUAL FUEL ON SHUTDOWN. THE FIRE FIGHTERS WERE GETTING HOSES OUT AND STANDING AROUND, BUT NOT SAYING ANYTHING TO US. WE FELT TOTALLY OUT OF THE LOOP AND FINALLY PRESSURED TWR TO GET SOME INFO FROM CFR. THEY CAME BACK AND SAID CHIEF SAW FLAMES, AND THEY WERE EXTINGUISHING THEM. WE WERE DEBATING EVAC, BUT DIDN'T WANT TO WITHOUT MORE INFO. FINALLY, AFTER INQUIRING WITH TWR SEVERAL TIMES, THEY SAID FIRE WAS OUT. IT WAS VERY FRUSTRATING TO NOT HAVE A DIRECT LINE WITH CFR. I FELT LIKE WE WERE MAKING UNEDUCATED DECISIONS ABOUT EVAC. ALL PAX EXITED UNDER NORMAL MEANS AND WE COMMUNICATED WITH MAINT AND CREW DESK. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: THE RPTR STATED THE CAUSE OF THE L ENG LOW OIL PRESSURE WAS NOT RELEASED BY MAINT. THE RPTR SAID THE ONLY INFO GIVEN TO THE CREW WAS THE ENG WAS CHANGED. THE RPTR STATED IT WAS NOT KNOWN TO THE CREW IF THE ENG WAS AT FAULT OR A DEFECTIVE INDICATOR.

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.