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A dispatcher described his company's newly released dispatch planning software which has a limitation in fuel planning for alternates and holding based on the automated weather input and may cause an illegal dispatch fuel load.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1077164 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201303 |
| Local Time Of Day | 1201-1800 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ZZZ.Airport |
| State Reference | US |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | Large Transport Low Wing 2 Turbojet Eng |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | Parked |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Dispatcher |
| Qualification | Dispatch Dispatcher |
| Experience | Dispatch Dispatch 37 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | No Specific Anomaly Occurred All Types |
Narrative:
Our dispatch software suggested going no alternate to dfw. The flights arrival time in dfw is XA17z. The forecast one hour before and one hour after the arrival time showed a ceiling of BKN020 at XB00z. If I do not show an alternate I will be at the very edge of legality and could be illegal if the ceiling drops below forecast. The alternate burn for [this aircraft] is 949 pounds. There is very little; if any; difference in gate release fuel by adding the alternate with minimums hold fuel and just going with an adequate amount of holding fuel and no alternate.the dispatch software does not have a buffer limit for either ceiling or visibility and will take you right to the legal limit every time.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: A Dispatcher described his Company's newly released Dispatch Planning Software which has a limitation in fuel planning for alternates and holding based on the automated weather input and may cause an illegal dispatch fuel load.
Narrative: Our Dispatch Software suggested going no alternate to DFW. The flights arrival time in DFW is XA17z. The forecast one hour before and one hour after the arrival time showed a ceiling of BKN020 at XB00z. If I do not show an alternate I will be at the very edge of legality and could be illegal if the ceiling drops below forecast. The alternate burn for [this aircraft] is 949 LBS. There is very little; if any; difference in gate release fuel by adding the alternate with minimums hold fuel and just going with an adequate amount of holding fuel and no alternate.The Dispatch Software does not have a buffer limit for either ceiling or visibility and will take you right to the legal limit every time.
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.