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A B737 captain experiences difficulties contacting medical services on the listed commercial radio frequencies over the atlantic ocean east of mlb. Eventually a usable frequency is found to discuss the condition of an ill passenger.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1266302 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201505 |
| Local Time Of Day | 0601-1200 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | JAX.Airport |
| State Reference | FL |
| Environment | |
| Flight Conditions | VMC |
| Light | Dawn |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | B737-700 |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | Cruise |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Captain |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) |
| Experience | Flight Crew Last 90 Days 166 Flight Crew Type 15000 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Illness Inflight Event / Encounter Other / Unknown |
Narrative:
During cruise flight at FL390 and approximately 160 NM southeast of jax; we needed to contact [medical services]. The 'enroute radio frequencies' section of our dispatch release indicated frequency 130.70 departing fll; and 131.17 at lends intersection. We had not yet reached lends intersection. Trying frequency 130.70 had no response; even with the squelch off. On 131.17 we could hear radio but the voice quality was weak with static. [Medical services] on 131.17 was un-useable. There was a severe echo and distortion of their transmissions. However; company dispatch and [medical services] said they could hear us loud and clear. We finally reached [medical services] via jax operations on 131.70. This process took about 12 minutes to establish useable communications.communications capability needs to be improved using existing technology. This type of delay could require pilots to make divert decisions without the benefit of [medical services] advice if the medical emergency was time critical.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: A B737 Captain experiences difficulties contacting Medical Services on the listed Commercial Radio frequencies over the Atlantic Ocean east of MLB. Eventually a usable frequency is found to discuss the condition of an ill passenger.
Narrative: During cruise flight at FL390 and approximately 160 NM southeast of JAX; we needed to contact [Medical Services]. The 'Enroute Radio Frequencies' section of our Dispatch Release indicated Frequency 130.70 departing FLL; and 131.17 at LENDS intersection. We had not yet reached LENDS intersection. Trying frequency 130.70 had no response; even with the squelch off. On 131.17 we could hear radio but the voice quality was weak with static. [Medical Services] on 131.17 was un-useable. There was a severe echo and distortion of their transmissions. However; Company Dispatch and [Medical Services] said they could hear us loud and clear. We finally reached [Medical Services] via JAX Operations on 131.70. This process took about 12 minutes to establish useable communications.Communications capability needs to be improved using existing technology. This type of delay could require Pilots to make divert decisions without the benefit of [Medical Services] advice if the medical emergency was time critical.
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.