Narrative:

Flight was enroute to destination when they received vectors due to weather just east of the field. A company radio call was initiated by the crew. Once the patch was in place the company operator and I could only hear every fourth word the first officer was saying. I picked up that they were getting vectored and the fuel onboard. I asked if there was a different frequency or a dial up location the crew could use. The operator said they were on the best frequency for the area. I then transmitted in the blind and asked the crew to try commercial radio service. About three minutes later I received a call from commercial radio service with a patch to the flight. Again; the transmissions from the aircraft were badly broken. The flight was in an area where the commercial radio service frequency changes. I tried to give them this frequency but was unsuccessful. The crew and I were never able to establish effective communications. Using the fuel number from the company radio call and watching the situation on flight view; I determined no additional action was required on my part. They continued on to destination with minimal deviation and landed without incident. Because both commercial radio service and the company radio proved ineffective I have to wonder if there may have been an anomaly with the avionics in this aircraft. Commercial radio services would have helped greatly in this situation. Also; the company radio network may need to undergo checks for coverage and quality assurance. Making the crews more aware of the availability of commercial radio services as a back up means of communication may also be useful.

Google
 

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A Dispatcher related numerous recurring difficulties maintaining required timely communications with flights under his jurisdiction.

Narrative: Flight was enroute to destination when they received vectors due to weather just east of the field. A Company Radio call was initiated by the crew. Once the patch was in place the Company Operator and I could only hear every fourth word the First Officer was saying. I picked up that they were getting vectored and the fuel onboard. I asked if there was a different frequency or a dial up location the crew could use. The operator said they were on the best frequency for the area. I then transmitted in the blind and asked the crew to try commercial radio service. About three minutes later I received a call from commercial radio service with a patch to the flight. Again; the transmissions from the aircraft were badly broken. The flight was in an area where the commercial radio service frequency changes. I tried to give them this frequency but was unsuccessful. The crew and I were never able to establish effective communications. Using the fuel number from the company radio call and watching the situation on flight view; I determined no additional action was required on my part. They continued on to destination with minimal deviation and landed without incident. Because both commercial radio service and the company radio proved ineffective I have to wonder if there may have been an anomaly with the avionics in this aircraft. Commercial radio services would have helped greatly in this situation. Also; the company radio network may need to undergo checks for coverage and quality assurance. Making the crews more aware of the availability of commercial radio services as a back up means of communication may also be useful.

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.