Air carrier crosses the gulf of mexico with navaids further apart than company policy allows.

Attributes
ACN	491430
Time
Date	200011
Day	Sat
Local Time Of Day	0601 To 1200
Place
Locale Reference	airport : fll.airport
State Reference	FL
Altitude	agl single value : 0
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Controlling Facilities	artcc : zjx.artcc artcc : zhu.artcc
Operator	common carrier : air carrier
Make Model Name	DC-10 Undifferentiated or Other Model
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	cruise : level ground : preflight
Route In Use	enroute airway : j58.airway
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : first officer
Qualification	pilot : flight engineer pilot : atp
Experience	flight time last 90 days : 100 flight time total : 5000 flight time type : 2200
ASRS Report	491430
Person 2
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : captain oversight : pic
Qualification	pilot : atp
Events
Anomaly	non adherence : published procedure non adherence : far non adherence : company policies
Independent Detector	other flight crewa
Resolutory Action	none taken : anomaly accepted
Supplementary
Problem Areas	Company Flight Crew Human Performance Aircraft
Primary Problem	Company

Narrative:

Flight plan/release from fll to afw via srq J58 covia J58 septa J58 hrv. The aircraft was not equipped with INS. Distance between srq and hrv is charted at 425 NM. Company fom allows a distance not to exceed 380 NM between high navaids. Captain insisted flight plan was legal because our position could be constantly fixed from an off airway NAVAID. Flight plan unchanged, but flew across gulf of mexico via radar vectors to aex.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: ACR CROSSES THE GULF OF MEXICO WITH NAVAIDS FURTHER APART THAN COMPANY POLICY ALLOWS.

Narrative: FLT PLAN/RELEASE FROM FLL TO AFW VIA SRQ J58 COVIA J58 SEPTA J58 HRV. THE ACFT WAS NOT EQUIPPED WITH INS. DISTANCE BTWN SRQ AND HRV IS CHARTED AT 425 NM. COMPANY FOM ALLOWS A DISTANCE NOT TO EXCEED 380 NM BTWN HIGH NAVAIDS. CAPT INSISTED FLT PLAN WAS LEGAL BECAUSE OUR POS COULD BE CONSTANTLY FIXED FROM AN OFF AIRWAY NAVAID. FLT PLAN UNCHANGED, BUT FLEW ACROSS GULF OF MEXICO VIA RADAR VECTORS TO AEX.

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.