Narrative:

Aircraft issued publications - I have been operating the B747 now for about five years as a captain. On every flight I have either one or two augmented pilots. However; it was the most recent events flying into and out of hnl as a two member crew that I saw some real deficiencies in the aircraft publications and the new mels provided by the complete review of all mels. Now; the company made another significant change to the aircraft publications where there will be no charts for the augment pilot. As of june 2009; there is no longer any requirement for currency requirements on the fom. Inbound to hnl; the hnl plates were not in the primary approach book for the captain. I had to get them from the first officer as part of the alternate plates. They were not a part of the primary destination booklet. I did call the flight office about this issue; and captain X said he would get right on it. Well; on my next flight out; none of the primary booklets had hnl as a primary destination. Too my knowledge; there has been no change.1. Strike one - I did as I was advised to do by informing the flight office of the lack of instrument procedures to conduct my operation by the opspecs for the aircraft publications. The procedure did not work in an appropriate amount of time. While operating out of hnl; we had a deferred item of trim air valve inoperative. I specifically went to ask the local maintenance staff about the procedures that were required for us to operate this aircraft with the trim air valve inoperative. He went through the MEL with me as I asked again how the cabin was to be conditioned. We followed the MEL procedures by keeping the cabin air-conditioning switch in the automatic position; and keeping at or near 75 degrees F. After we were in cruise the chief purser notified us that the cabin was unbearably cold. The ecs synoptic told all; as it was 64 degrees in 1st class. After a complete review; we identified the problem; the trim air valve switch was in the on position; which is not a part of the MEL procedure. I notified maintenance control about the issue. I followed the procedure outlined in the irregular procedures of the flight manual and made the corrections to the lack of information provided by the MEL. 2. Strike two - the maintenance controller notified me that the MEL was not the correct procedure for what was wrong with the aircraft. He also claimed that the qa of the mels on the B747 were never completed; and some inaccuracies may be present such as this one. I followed the flight manual irregular procedure to cover my ass. We were able to restore the cabin temperatures to normal operating conditions by following the irregular procedures. Inbound at the end of nearly 8 hours of block-to-block time; the visibility was down; and the ceilings were at 100 ft; and visibility between 1800 ft to 3000 ft. The information provided by the ATIS over ACARS was suitable; but my memory escaped me for how to read and understand all of the codes that are included in the ATIS weather report. I had to get my personal fom; to get the codes to understand the operation. We briefed for both the CAT I and CAT ii approaches. 3. Strike three - the current aircraft publications no longer include the fom section containing this information. It is the only place where the international codes for meteorology are available for flight crews. If I did not have my personal copy with me in my own manuals; the interpretation of the ATIS would have been very difficult. I can probably still get the info from dispatch; but recently they have been very busy as well; and have not been readily available for any assistance. There are several critical issues that I would like to raise.a. I brought out my own personal fom and showed it to the flight crews on my last flight with the most recent change as to the policy for augmented crews. Whooee! Ok; so you did not know about the change in policy; why did you not know about it I said to them; 'becausei no longer have to keep up with the fom'! B. The lack of information in the aircraft publications is not thoroughly thought through. If our opspecs required for me as an international captain to have a complete set of documents to fly anywhere in the world; then why are they not on the aircraft and accessible to all crew members. C. With just the two of us; the flight crew is very busy for nearly 8 hours. The combination of weather; lack of a proper MEL; and a long day for two pilots was a real challenge especially when you are handicapped by not having the proper documentation to operate the flight. This is a serious violation of non-compliance of the operating certificate of the airline. Safety is being jeopardized; and now lets add a policy change to the fom without any knowledge to the pilots who are most impacted. Lastly; the way the information is being provided via e-mail is a little on the threatening side by management. At one point; a comment was made via e-mail to all pilots; if you do not comply; then you will be required to go back to packing fifty pound flight bags.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B747 Captain has issues with the air carriers' policy of maintaining aircraft issued publications of all necessary charts; manuals as well as the accuracy of some MEL procedures.

Narrative: Aircraft issued publications - I have been operating the B747 now for about five years as a Captain. On every flight I have either one or two augmented pilots. However; it was the most recent events flying into and out of HNL as a two member crew that I saw some real deficiencies in the aircraft publications and the new MELs provided by the complete review of all MELs. Now; the Company made another significant change to the aircraft publications where there will be no charts for the augment pilot. As of June 2009; there is no longer any requirement for currency requirements on the FOM. Inbound to HNL; the HNL plates were not in the primary approach book for the Captain. I had to get them from the First Officer as part of the alternate plates. They were not a part of the primary destination booklet. I did call the Flight Office about this issue; and Captain X said he would get right on it. Well; on my next flight out; none of the primary booklets had HNL as a primary destination. Too my knowledge; there has been no change.1. Strike ONE - I did as I was advised to do by informing the Flight Office of the lack of instrument procedures to conduct my operation by the OPSPECS for the aircraft publications. The procedure did not work in an appropriate amount of time. While operating out of HNL; we had a deferred item of TRIM AIR VALVE INOP. I specifically went to ask the local maintenance staff about the procedures that were required for us to operate this aircraft with the TRIM AIR VALVE INOP. He went through the MEL with me as I asked again how the cabin was to be conditioned. We followed the MEL procedures by keeping the Cabin Air-Conditioning Switch in the AUTO position; and keeping at or near 75 degrees F. After we were in cruise the Chief Purser notified us that the Cabin was unbearably cold. The ECS synoptic told all; as it was 64 degrees in 1st class. After a complete review; we identified the problem; the TRIM AIR VALVE SWITCH was in the ON position; which is not a part of the MEL procedure. I notified Maintenance Control about the issue. I followed the procedure outlined in the Irregular Procedures of the flight manual and made the corrections to the lack of information provided by the MEL. 2. Strike TWO - The Maintenance Controller notified me that the MEL was not the correct procedure for what was wrong with the aircraft. He also claimed that the QA of the MELs on the B747 were never completed; and some inaccuracies may be present such as this one. I followed the flight manual irregular procedure to cover my ASS. We were able to restore the cabin temperatures to normal operating conditions by following the irregular procedures. Inbound at the end of nearly 8 hours of block-to-block time; the visibility was down; and the ceilings were at 100 FT; and visibility between 1800 FT to 3000 FT. The information provided by the ATIS over ACARS was suitable; but my memory escaped me for how to read and understand all of the codes that are included in the ATIS weather report. I had to get my personal FOM; to get the codes to understand the operation. We briefed for both the CAT I and CAT II approaches. 3. Strike THREE - The current Aircraft publications no longer include the FOM section containing this information. It is the only place where the international codes for meteorology are available for flight crews. If I did not have my personal copy with me in my own manuals; the interpretation of the ATIS would have been very difficult. I can probably still get the info from dispatch; but recently they have been very busy as well; and have not been readily available for any assistance. There are several critical issues that I would like to raise.a. I brought out my own personal FOM and showed it to the flight crews on my last flight with the most recent change as to the policy for augmented crews. WHOOEE! OK; so you did not know about the change in policy; why did you not know about it I said to them; 'becauseI no longer have to keep up with the FOM'! b. The lack of information in the aircraft publications is not thoroughly thought through. If our OPSPECS required for me as an International Captain to have a complete set of documents to fly anywhere in the world; then why are they not on the aircraft and accessible to all crew members. c. With just the two of us; the flight crew is very busy for nearly 8 hours. The combination of Weather; lack of a proper MEL; and a long day for two pilots was a real challenge especially when you are handicapped by not having the proper documentation to operate the flight. This is a serious violation of non-compliance of the Operating Certificate of the airline. Safety is being jeopardized; and now lets add a policy change to the FOM without any knowledge to the pilots who are most impacted. Lastly; the way the information is being provided via e-mail is a little on the threatening side by management. At one point; a comment was made via e-mail to all pilots; if you do not comply; then you will be required to go back to packing fifty pound flight bags.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.