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A dispatcher discovered a mainland to south america flight he inherited from the previous dispatcher was unable to maintain the required communication link with the company.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 956788 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201106 |
| Local Time Of Day | 0001-0600 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | MIA.Airport |
| State Reference | FL |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | B757-200 |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | Cruise |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Component | |
| Aircraft Component | HF SSB |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Dispatcher |
| Qualification | Dispatch Dispatcher |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe Deviation - Procedural FAR Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy |
Narrative:
When I came on duty and took control of the desk; flt [#} was airborne. Upon reviewing the flt; I noticed the flt had been dispatched with the left HF inoperative. I reviewed the MEL restrictions. It required 2 methods of communication for the entire route of flt to be dispatched with the fuel reserve used by the dispatcher who planned the flt. The right HF radio was working and the ACARS was working. I made several attempts to contact the flight during the entire route of flight to change an alternate that was below alternate limits; to relay weather; and to get position reports which the flt was not transmitting. I received several 'reject' responses from my ACARS msgs; all of which received no response from the flight. The commercial communications provider was never able to contact the flight. The first direct contact I had with was when he landed in ZZZZ when ACARS finally worked. I advised capt to have mechanic radio check the right HF to confirm it was working and it was. Dispatch had no form of direct contact with this flight at any time. The aircraft is non-pegasus equipped and does not have satcom. East of the andes mountains is a known no ACARS and poor HF receiving area to just north of ZZZZ.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: A Dispatcher discovered a mainland to South America flight he inherited from the previous Dispatcher was unable to maintain the required communication link with the company.
Narrative: when I came on duty and took control of the desk; flt [#} was airborne. Upon reviewing the flt; I noticed the flt had been dispatched with the left HF INOP. I reviewed the MEL restrictions. It required 2 methods of communication for the entire route of flt to be dispatched with the fuel reserve used by the dispatcher who planned the flt. The right HF radio was working and the ACARS was working. I made several attempts to contact the flight during the entire route of flight to change an alternate that was below alternate limits; to relay weather; and to get position reports which the flt was not transmitting. I received several 'reject' responses from my ACARS MSGS; all of which received no response from the flight. The commercial communications provider was never able to contact the flight. The first direct contact I had with was when he landed in ZZZZ when ACARS finally worked. I advised Capt to have mechanic radio check the right HF to confirm it was working and it was. Dispatch had no form of direct contact with this flight at any time. The aircraft is non-Pegasus equipped and does not have SATCOM. East of the Andes mountains is a known no ACARS and poor HF receiving area to just north of ZZZZ.
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.