Narrative:

On dec/08; I dispatched flight from ZZZ to roc. Prior to departing; while he was waiting on paperwork; the pilot in command called me for a weather brief. I went over the weather for roc as well as syr; which was the alternate. A bit later; the coordinator on duty advised me that the plane was not legal to depart based on the weather in roc. I explained that I had just reviewed the weather with captain and coordinator asked if I would like to take my license and go have a talk with the FAA. He advised me to send an ACARS to advise the crew they were illegal to push; which I did. However; by the time the ACARS message was received; the plane was already off the ground. The coordinator then told me to ACARS the crew and have them call him on the radio. I had no further communication with the crew; as the coordinator had 'taken' the flight from me. Upon reviewing the weather; conditions had dropped below landing minimums 5 minutes prior to pushing from the gate. Also; about 15 minutes later; the weather was back up. At no time had the RVR dropped to below what was required for the approach into roc and the alternate; syr; had remained a legal alternate the entire time. In the end; the crew returned to ZZZ where the first officer timed out and by the time a replacement was found; the captain had timed out and the flight was canceled. I feel the coordinator mishandled the flight that I dispatched. The weather at roc was back up prior to landing in ZZZ and the flight could have continued safely to roc. This flight could have been completed safely with no return to field. As the dispatcher; I feel I should have been the one to see the flight through to completion. Perhaps there needs to be review of procedures with examples of clear; professional; non-threatening and unbiased dialogue between coordinator and dispatcher.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A Dispatcher's responsibility for a medium transport jet was removed after the Dispatch Coordinator claimed that the flight's release was issued when the weather was below minimums. The flight was airborne but was recalled.

Narrative: On Dec/08; I dispatched flight from ZZZ to ROC. Prior to departing; while he was waiting on paperwork; the Pilot in Command called me for a weather brief. I went over the weather for ROC as well as SYR; which was the alternate. A bit later; the Coordinator on duty advised me that the plane was not legal to depart based on the weather in ROC. I explained that I had just reviewed the weather with Captain and Coordinator asked if I would like to take my license and go have a talk with the FAA. He advised me to send an ACARS to advise the crew they were illegal to push; which I did. However; by the time the ACARS message was received; the plane was already off the ground. The Coordinator then told me to ACARS the crew and have them call him on the radio. I had no further communication with the crew; as the Coordinator had 'taken' the flight from me. Upon reviewing the weather; conditions had dropped below landing minimums 5 minutes prior to pushing from the gate. Also; about 15 minutes later; the weather was back up. At no time had the RVR dropped to below what was required for the approach into ROC and the alternate; SYR; had remained a legal alternate the entire time. In the end; the crew returned to ZZZ where the First Officer timed out and by the time a replacement was found; the Captain had timed out and the flight was canceled. I feel the Coordinator mishandled the flight that I dispatched. The weather at ROC was back up prior to landing in ZZZ and the flight could have continued safely to ROC. This flight could have been completed safely with no return to field. As the Dispatcher; I feel I should have been the one to see the flight through to completion. Perhaps there needs to be review of procedures with examples of clear; professional; non-threatening and unbiased dialogue between Coordinator and Dispatcher.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of May 2009 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.