Narrative:

Air carrier flight crew XXX, on nov/xa/99 scheduled from sna to atl, diverted to las because of an unidented burning odor in aft galley. After an unanswered call was made to ZLA requesting a divert to las, an emergency was declared in order to receive priority handling for the precautionary diversion. My experience from the event has aroused my concern over what I believe is an unnecessary diversion of crew attention during an emergency. During the diversion and descent, ZLA requested fuel remaining (in hours and mins) and the number of souls on board. The report was given to ZLA. Las approach or tower requested the same information. I question the requirement for ATC to request fuel remaining (in hours and mins) and souls on board from a cockpit crew which has a limited time to perform essential procedures during an emergency situation. Perhaps the requirement is a holdover from an era when every large aircraft was staffed with a flight engineer in addition to 2 pilots. In a 2 pilot crew, the workload is extreme during an emergency, with barely enough time to perform checklists, troubleshoot, plan the flight to a diversionary field, program FMS, obtain ATIS, communicate with ATC, the company, flight attendants and the passenger. Fuel remaining in hours and mins is not readily available in the cockpit and necessitates a calculation. Such a calculation requires at least one of the pilots to divert his attention from the existing emergency. While sufficient fuel may be a concern during emergency operations on long overwater flts, it should be obvious that an aircraft dispatched by an air carrier from sna to atl has sufficient fuel to divert to las. If the remaining fuel is essential information for the crash crew, why must it be stated in hours and mins? The crash crew will respond automatically to fight any fire which ignites without regard to the hours and mins of fuel which were reported. My recommendation is that the ATC procedures be reviewed with the consideration of alleviating unnecessary distrs of crew attention. It would appear to be more appropriate for ATC to contact the dispatcher of the air carrier 'on the landline' to determine the number of souls on board and estimated fuel remaining (in pounds or endurance). Anything that can be done to reduce crew workload during an emergency will increase the margin of safety.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B757-200 IN CRUISE AT FL370 DECLARED AN EMER DUE TO A GALLEY BURNING ODOR. CREW RPTS UNNECESSARY DIVERSION OF CREW ATTN DURING EMER PROCS BY ATC.

Narrative: ACR FLC XXX, ON NOV/XA/99 SCHEDULED FROM SNA TO ATL, DIVERTED TO LAS BECAUSE OF AN UNIDENTED BURNING ODOR IN AFT GALLEY. AFTER AN UNANSWERED CALL WAS MADE TO ZLA REQUESTING A DIVERT TO LAS, AN EMER WAS DECLARED IN ORDER TO RECEIVE PRIORITY HANDLING FOR THE PRECAUTIONARY DIVERSION. MY EXPERIENCE FROM THE EVENT HAS AROUSED MY CONCERN OVER WHAT I BELIEVE IS AN UNNECESSARY DIVERSION OF CREW ATTN DURING AN EMER. DURING THE DIVERSION AND DSCNT, ZLA REQUESTED FUEL REMAINING (IN HRS AND MINS) AND THE NUMBER OF SOULS ON BOARD. THE RPT WAS GIVEN TO ZLA. LAS APCH OR TWR REQUESTED THE SAME INFO. I QUESTION THE REQUIREMENT FOR ATC TO REQUEST FUEL REMAINING (IN HRS AND MINS) AND SOULS ON BOARD FROM A COCKPIT CREW WHICH HAS A LIMITED TIME TO PERFORM ESSENTIAL PROCS DURING AN EMER SIT. PERHAPS THE REQUIREMENT IS A HOLDOVER FROM AN ERA WHEN EVERY LARGE ACFT WAS STAFFED WITH A FE IN ADDITION TO 2 PLTS. IN A 2 PLT CREW, THE WORKLOAD IS EXTREME DURING AN EMER, WITH BARELY ENOUGH TIME TO PERFORM CHKLISTS, TROUBLESHOOT, PLAN THE FLT TO A DIVERSIONARY FIELD, PROGRAM FMS, OBTAIN ATIS, COMMUNICATE WITH ATC, THE COMPANY, FLT ATTENDANTS AND THE PAX. FUEL REMAINING IN HRS AND MINS IS NOT READILY AVAILABLE IN THE COCKPIT AND NECESSITATES A CALCULATION. SUCH A CALCULATION REQUIRES AT LEAST ONE OF THE PLTS TO DIVERT HIS ATTN FROM THE EXISTING EMER. WHILE SUFFICIENT FUEL MAY BE A CONCERN DURING EMER OPS ON LONG OVERWATER FLTS, IT SHOULD BE OBVIOUS THAT AN ACFT DISPATCHED BY AN ACR FROM SNA TO ATL HAS SUFFICIENT FUEL TO DIVERT TO LAS. IF THE REMAINING FUEL IS ESSENTIAL INFO FOR THE CRASH CREW, WHY MUST IT BE STATED IN HRS AND MINS? THE CRASH CREW WILL RESPOND AUTOMATICALLY TO FIGHT ANY FIRE WHICH IGNITES WITHOUT REGARD TO THE HRS AND MINS OF FUEL WHICH WERE RPTED. MY RECOMMENDATION IS THAT THE ATC PROCS BE REVIEWED WITH THE CONSIDERATION OF ALLEVIATING UNNECESSARY DISTRS OF CREW ATTN. IT WOULD APPEAR TO BE MORE APPROPRIATE FOR ATC TO CONTACT THE DISPATCHER OF THE ACR 'ON THE LANDLINE' TO DETERMINE THE NUMBER OF SOULS ON BOARD AND ESTIMATED FUEL REMAINING (IN LBS OR ENDURANCE). ANYTHING THAT CAN BE DONE TO REDUCE CREW WORKLOAD DURING AN EMER WILL INCREASE THE MARGIN OF SAFETY.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 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.