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Broken and deferred communications functions of ACARS combined with conflicts between flight attendants and passenger agents created a chaotic pre-departure scene which culminated with the flight crew's failure to obtain a hard copy maintenance release prior to gate departure.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1199064 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201408 |
| Local Time Of Day | 1801-2400 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | IAH.Airport |
| State Reference | TX |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | A320 |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | Taxi |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Component | |
| Aircraft Component | ACARS Printer |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | First Officer Pilot Flying |
| Experience | Flight Crew Last 90 Days 250 Flight Crew Total 13000 Flight Crew Type 1200 |
| Person 2 | |
| Function | Captain Pilot Not Flying |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Other / Unknown |
Narrative:
Our ACARS was deferred [with the] clock and printer inoperative but able to use any functions that worked. During set up ACARS and the printer operated normally. We briefed the departure (including the maintenance release status) approximately 20 minutes before schedule departure. A few minutes later we received an ACARS message that a new maintenance release was required as well as a status message on the printer advising the aircraft was ready for release. Before having an opportunity to address the maintenance status the lead flight attendant advised she was concerned about the location of an armed passenger and the status of a dog on board and advised another attendant had had a verbal conflict with a gate agent regarding overhead bin space and was asking for our intervention. Finally after dealing with these issues we pushed back and immediately realized we hadn't called maintenance about the unusual maintenance release status. Maintenance attempted to send the release to the printer but were unable. They then sent a truck out with a hard copy passed in through a cockpit window. We; then; started engines and continued the flight uneventfully.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: Broken and deferred communications functions of ACARS combined with conflicts between flight attendants and passenger agents created a chaotic pre-departure scene which culminated with the flight crew's failure to obtain a hard copy maintenance release prior to gate departure.
Narrative: Our ACARS was deferred [with the] clock and printer inoperative but able to use any functions that worked. During set up ACARS and the printer operated normally. We briefed the departure (including the maintenance release status) approximately 20 minutes before schedule departure. A few minutes later we received an ACARS message that a new maintenance release was required as well as a status message on the printer advising the aircraft was ready for release. Before having an opportunity to address the maintenance status the lead flight attendant advised she was concerned about the location of an armed passenger and the status of a dog on board and advised another attendant had had a verbal conflict with a gate agent regarding overhead bin space and was asking for our intervention. Finally after dealing with these issues we pushed back and immediately realized we hadn't called maintenance about the unusual maintenance release status. Maintenance attempted to send the release to the printer but were unable. They then sent a truck out with a hard copy passed in through a cockpit window. We; then; started engines and continued the flight uneventfully.
Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site 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.