B767-300 first officer describes the captain resetting an ACARS circuit breaker to get the system fu...

Narrative:

PF on my first leg . I had just met the captain and international relief officer since they operated in from ZZZ and I met them at the aircraft. At cruise as the PF; the captain noticed the ACARS had stopped functioning correctly. He was concerned that we needed the ACARS and tried to look for relief in the systems manual; QRH and contacted maintenance control. They gave no direction as to how to remedy the ACARS. Being new to the aircraft; I had no ideas as to how to get the ACARS back in to a working condition. The captain and international relief officer discussed the matter and then the captain decided to use his 'captain's authority' to reset a circuit breaker for the ACARS system. As the PF; I mainly concentrated on aircraft control as the captain and international relief officer discussed the problem. The captain was concerned about deteriorating weather conditions at destination and felt he needed the ACARS operable for the duration of the flight. This action remedied the ACARS; but may have been against company procedure.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B767-300 First Officer describes the Captain resetting an ACARS circuit breaker to get the system functioning again and believes the act may have been in violation of company procedures.

Narrative: PF on my first leg . I had just met the Captain and IRO since they operated in from ZZZ and I met them at the aircraft. At cruise as the PF; the Captain noticed the ACARS had stopped functioning correctly. He was concerned that we needed the ACARS and tried to look for relief in the Systems Manual; QRH and contacted Maintenance Control. They gave no direction as to how to remedy the ACARS. Being new to the aircraft; I had no ideas as to how to get the ACARS back in to a working condition. The Captain and IRO discussed the matter and then the Captain decided to use his 'Captain's Authority' to reset a circuit breaker for the ACARS system. As the PF; I mainly concentrated on aircraft control as the Captain and IRO discussed the problem. The Captain was concerned about deteriorating weather conditions at destination and felt he needed the ACARS operable for the duration of the flight. This action remedied the ACARS; but may have been against company procedure.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 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.

Attributes
ACN	989680
Time
Date	201201
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZZ.ARTCC
State Reference	FO
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Dawn
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B767-300 and 300 ER
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Cruise
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	ACARS
Person 1
Function	First Officer Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy

B767-300 first officer describes the captain resetting an ACARS circuit breaker to get the system functioning again and believes the act may have been in violation of company procedures.