B737-300 crew was scheduled to exceed 8 hours in a 24 hour period.

Attributes
ACN	568248
Time
Date	200212
Day	Thu
Local Time Of Day	0601 To 1200
Place
Locale Reference	airport : mia.airport
State Reference	FL
Altitude	agl single value : 0
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Operator	common carrier : air carrier
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	ground : parked
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : captain oversight : pic
Qualification	pilot : multi engine pilot : instrument pilot : flight engineer pilot : commercial pilot : atp
Experience	flight time last 90 days : 180 flight time total : 4900 flight time type : 210
ASRS Report	568248
Person 2
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : first officer
Events
Anomaly	non adherence : far non adherence : published procedure non adherence : company policies other anomaly other
Independent Detector	other flight crewa
Resolutory Action	none taken : unable
Supplementary
Problem Areas	Company FAA
Primary Problem	Company

Narrative:

Dispatched from miami, filed over cuba with an overflt permit. Upon entering havana airspace, was informed permit was not good any more, required return to miami. Upon arrival, I contacted dispatch and director of operations to discuss legality of redispatch for flight as now it would exceed 8 hours of flight to complete the sequence. The scheduler (contacted by the director of operations) informed me that the flight was legal as it did not change flight number. We completed the sequence, exceeded the 8 hours and after further research were determined illegal. We, the crew, feel there is a gray area in far part 121.481(a) that needs clarification.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B737-300 CREW WAS SCHEDULED TO EXCEED 8 HRS IN A 24 HR PERIOD.

Narrative: DISPATCHED FROM MIAMI, FILED OVER CUBA WITH AN OVERFLT PERMIT. UPON ENTERING HAVANA AIRSPACE, WAS INFORMED PERMIT WAS NOT GOOD ANY MORE, REQUIRED RETURN TO MIAMI. UPON ARR, I CONTACTED DISPATCH AND DIRECTOR OF OPS TO DISCUSS LEGALITY OF REDISPATCH FOR FLT AS NOW IT WOULD EXCEED 8 HRS OF FLT TO COMPLETE THE SEQUENCE. THE SCHEDULER (CONTACTED BY THE DIRECTOR OF OPS) INFORMED ME THAT THE FLT WAS LEGAL AS IT DID NOT CHANGE FLT NUMBER. WE COMPLETED THE SEQUENCE, EXCEEDED THE 8 HRS AND AFTER FURTHER RESEARCH WERE DETERMINED ILLEGAL. WE, THE CREW, FEEL THERE IS A GRAY AREA IN FAR PART 121.481(A) THAT NEEDS CLARIFICATION.

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.