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An A330 captain reported losing electrical power on the ground and VHF 1 did not operate; so the crew had no means of contacting first responders or dispatch unless their personal phones worked on foreign communications systems.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1094446 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201306 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ZZZ.Airport |
| State Reference | US |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | A330 |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | Parked |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Component | |
| Aircraft Component | Electrical Power |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Captain |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical |
Narrative:
Since I now know of three incidences in which an A330 found itself relying on battery power only on the ground; and did not have VHF 1. We need an fom policy for lost communications on the ground as well as in flight. Without 1 VHF there is no way to coordinate rescue [per] fom 4.4.1/.2 and our cell phones would be off if we were blessed enough to have one and be in a country in which it had service. I would not want to explain to relatives their loved one perished while my phone powered up to call dispatch to call rescue; or worse yet; no one's phone worked in country. We could never explain why we didn't make contingencies for documented failures of battery only VHF 1 on ground. Failures are occurring that prevent evacuation checklist to be accomplished.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: An A330 Captain reported losing electrical power on the ground and VHF 1 did not operate; so the crew had no means of contacting first responders or Dispatch unless their personal phones worked on foreign communications systems.
Narrative: Since I now know of three incidences in which an A330 found itself relying on battery power only on the ground; and did not have VHF 1. We need an FOM policy for lost communications on the ground as well as in flight. Without 1 VHF there is no way to coordinate rescue [per] FOM 4.4.1/.2 and our cell phones would be off if we were blessed enough to have one and be in a country in which it had service. I would not want to explain to relatives their loved one perished while my phone powered up to call Dispatch to call rescue; or worse yet; no one's phone worked in country. We could never explain why we didn't make contingencies for documented failures of battery only VHF 1 on ground. Failures are occurring that prevent evacuation checklist to be accomplished.
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.