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B747-400 crew reported weather radar performance not sufficient for accurate navigation around weather.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1545618 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201805 |
| Environment | |
| Flight Conditions | IMC |
| Light | Night |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | B747-400 |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | Cruise |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Component | |
| Aircraft Component | Weather Radar |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | First Officer Pilot Flying |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) |
| Person 2 | |
| Function | Pilot Flying Captain |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Multiengine |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe Inflight Event / Encounter Weather / Turbulence |
Narrative:
During the cruise phase of the flight it was a dark; moonless night. The captain was on her break and the observer was occupying the captain seat. While maintaining the flight level; we noticed a weather event that looked like light rain on the radar display. After discussing the situation and tilting the radar down a bit we agreed that the weather condition was not harmful and decided not to deviate. When we penetrated the area of weather we experienced moderate turbulence; rain and convective activity. We immediately decided to deviate from the area however we were into the weather event. After few minutes; the captain took the left seat. She mentioned that the turbulence prevented her making her way back to the flight deck. For the remainder of the flight; we never saw anything heavier than light rain (green color) depiction on the weather radar. Lucky for us; we had another aircraft en route to miami that helped us out on 121.5 and 123.45 for weather deviation for the remainder of the flight. Multiple radio exchanges with them confirmed that our radar was not showing any of the convective activity to the level they were seeing it. Once we got over populated areas; weather avoidance became a bit easier as we could see the thunderstorms due to the city lights reflections off of the thunderstorm clouds.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: B747-400 crew reported weather radar performance not sufficient for accurate navigation around weather.
Narrative: During the cruise phase of the flight it was a dark; moonless night. The Captain was on her break and the observer was occupying the captain seat. While maintaining the flight level; we noticed a weather event that looked like light rain on the radar display. After discussing the situation and tilting the radar down a bit we agreed that the weather condition was not harmful and decided not to deviate. When we penetrated the area of weather we experienced moderate turbulence; rain and convective activity. We immediately decided to deviate from the area however we were into the weather event. After few minutes; the Captain took the left seat. She mentioned that the turbulence prevented her making her way back to the flight deck. For the remainder of the flight; we never saw anything heavier than light rain (green color) depiction on the weather radar. Lucky for us; we had another aircraft en route to Miami that helped us out on 121.5 and 123.45 for weather deviation for the remainder of the flight. Multiple radio exchanges with them confirmed that our radar was not showing any of the convective activity to the level they were seeing it. Once we got over populated areas; weather avoidance became a bit easier as we could see the thunderstorms due to the city lights reflections off of the thunderstorm clouds.
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.