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Dispatched with an inoperative ACARS; unidentified air carrier flight crew failed to receive a message from dispatch making a required change to their destination alternate.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 838491 |
| Time | |
| Date | 200906 |
| Local Time Of Day | 1201-1800 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ZZZ.Airport |
| State Reference | US |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | Commercial Fixed Wing |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | Parked |
| Component | |
| Aircraft Component | Air/Ground Communication |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Captain |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe Deviation - Procedural FAR Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy |
Narrative:
We were flying an aircraft without ACARS. After landing; the dispatcher informed us that they were not able to reach us via the commercial radio link while we were enroute to inform us of a required change in our destination alternate. After leaving 20;000 ft on departure; we contacted the departure airport ground station using radio #2 with our departure times; then started using radio #2 to monitor the commercial radio frequencies. Approaching lake michigan; I tuned in the ATIS frequency in an effort to start monitoring for an arrival ATIS. Once the ATIS was copied; I tuned the standby frequency in radio #2 to the ground frequency in order to make an in range call later in the descent. Unfortunately; the workload in the cockpit was a little higher than normal due to off course vectors and multiple step-downs due to arrival traffic. Ultimately I did not make the in range call; which would have given dispatch the opportunity to change our alternate at that time. I believe that dispatch tried to get a hold of us while I was off frequency to find out which runways were in use.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: Dispatched with an inoperative ACARS; unidentified air carrier flight crew failed to receive a message from dispatch making a required change to their destination alternate.
Narrative: We were flying an aircraft without ACARS. After landing; the Dispatcher informed us that they were not able to reach us via the commercial radio link while we were enroute to inform us of a required change in our destination alternate. After leaving 20;000 FT on departure; we contacted the departure airport ground station using radio #2 with our departure times; then started using radio #2 to monitor the commercial radio frequencies. Approaching Lake Michigan; I tuned in the ATIS frequency in an effort to start monitoring for an arrival ATIS. Once the ATIS was copied; I tuned the standby frequency in radio #2 to the ground frequency in order to make an in range call later in the descent. Unfortunately; the workload in the cockpit was a little higher than normal due to off course vectors and multiple step-downs due to arrival traffic. Ultimately I did not make the in range call; which would have given dispatch the opportunity to change our alternate at that time. I believe that dispatch tried to get a hold of us while I was off frequency to find out which runways were in use.
Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.