An airline dispatcher's report on a B757-200 flight that accepted a reroute to an off shore route th...

Attributes
ACN	523299
Time
Date	200108
Day	Tue
Local Time Of Day	1801 To 2400
Place
State Reference	NC
Altitude	msl single value : 31000
Environment
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Controlling Facilities	artcc : zjx.artcc artcc : zdc.artcc
Operator	common carrier : air carrier
Make Model Name	B757-200
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Navigation In Use	other
Flight Phase	cruise : level
Route In Use	arrival other enroute : atlantic
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	other personnel
ASRS Report	523299
Person 2
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : captain oversight : pic
Events
Anomaly	aircraft equipment problem : critical inflight encounter : weather non adherence : company policies non adherence : far other anomaly other
Independent Detector	other other : disp 1
Resolutory Action	none taken : anomaly accepted none taken : detected after the fact
Consequence	other
Supplementary
Problem Areas	Environmental Factor Aircraft Cabin Crew Human Performance Weather Flight Crew Human Performance Company
Primary Problem	Aircraft

Narrative:

I dispatched a flight from iad to mco on an over land route and it was subsequently given an ATC reroute over ilm climb AR1 hobee AR6 orl, which is an overwater route. The crew accepted the reroute without realizing that they were in a none-overwater B757-200. The crew advised me via ACARS of the reroute after they were already more than 50NM offshore. At that time I advised them that their aircraft was not overwater qualified. The flight continued to mco and landed uneventfully. Contributing factors were ATC's issuance of an overwater reroute without first confirming that the aircraft and crew could accept an overwater route, also the crew did not notify me of the reroute until they were already over water. I also did not notice that the aircraft had accepted a reroute until they advised me (I had the aircraft and route displayed on my aircraft situation display). Perhaps overwater qualified flts should be filed with ATC using a different aircraft type prefix although it would still be up to the crew to confirm whether the cabin and flcs were qualified. Crew training for fleets with both overwater and non-overwater aircraft should probably emphasize that they must confirm that the aircraft, flight crew and cabin crew must all be overwater qualified before accepting an overwater route. Cabin crew qualifications should be part of the preflight briefing for flts that may go overwater.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: AN AIRLINE DISPATCHER'S RPT ON A B757-200 FLT THAT ACCEPTED A REROUTE TO AN OFF SHORE ROUTE THAT EXCEEDED THE ACFT'S AND CREW'S OVERWATER QUALIFICATIONS FROM CLB, NC TO MCO, FO.

Narrative: I DISPATCHED A FLT FROM IAD TO MCO ON AN OVER LAND ROUTE AND IT WAS SUBSEQUENTLY GIVEN AN ATC REROUTE OVER ILM CLB AR1 HOBEE AR6 ORL, WHICH IS AN OVERWATER ROUTE. THE CREW ACCEPTED THE REROUTE WITHOUT REALIZING THAT THEY WERE IN A NONE-OVERWATER B757-200. THE CREW ADVISED ME VIA ACARS OF THE REROUTE AFTER THEY WERE ALREADY MORE THAN 50NM OFFSHORE. AT THAT TIME I ADVISED THEM THAT THEIR ACFT WAS NOT OVERWATER QUALIFIED. THE FLT CONTINUED TO MCO AND LANDED UNEVENTFULLY. CONTRIBUTING FACTORS WERE ATC'S ISSUANCE OF AN OVERWATER REROUTE WITHOUT FIRST CONFIRMING THAT THE ACFT AND CREW COULD ACCEPT AN OVERWATER ROUTE, ALSO THE CREW DID NOT NOTIFY ME OF THE REROUTE UNTIL THEY WERE ALREADY OVER WATER. I ALSO DID NOT NOTICE THAT THE ACFT HAD ACCEPTED A REROUTE UNTIL THEY ADVISED ME (I HAD THE ACFT AND ROUTE DISPLAYED ON MY ACFT SIT DISPLAY). PERHAPS OVERWATER QUALIFIED FLTS SHOULD BE FILED WITH ATC USING A DIFFERENT ACFT TYPE PREFIX ALTHOUGH IT WOULD STILL BE UP TO THE CREW TO CONFIRM WHETHER THE CABIN AND FLCS WERE QUALIFIED. CREW TRAINING FOR FLEETS WITH BOTH OVERWATER AND NON-OVERWATER ACFT SHOULD PROBABLY EMPHASIZE THAT THEY MUST CONFIRM THAT THE ACFT, FLC AND CABIN CREW MUST ALL BE OVERWATER QUALIFIED BEFORE ACCEPTING AN OVERWATER ROUTE. CABIN CREW QUALIFICATIONS SHOULD BE PART OF THE PREFLT BRIEFING FOR FLTS THAT MAY GO OVERWATER.

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.

An airline dispatcher's report on a B757-200 flight that accepted a reroute to an off shore route that exceeded the aircraft's and crew's overwater qualifications from climb, nc to mco, first officer.