B777 flight crew departing on an international flight reported losing satcom. They were unsure of le...

Attributes
ACN	871582
Time
Date	201001
Local Time Of Day	0001-0600
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B777-200
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Component
Aircraft Component	Air/Ground Communication
Person 1
Function	Pilot Not Flying Captain
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 120 Flight Crew Total 20000 Flight Crew Type 1500
Person 2
Function	First Officer Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 140 Flight Crew Total 13000 Flight Crew Type 2900
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe

Narrative:

Received a satcom EICAS. Called dispatch and maintenance. After consultation I decided to use my emergency authority and try to reset the satcom circuit breaker prior to entering the polar section of our flight. The reset did not work so we asked if dispatch could talk with the B-777 fleet captain to see if we could legally press on. The fleet captain said we were not legal to continue. After consultation with dispatch we dumped 60;000lbs of fuel and returned to departure airport. The ability to communicate with the company was almost non-existent without satcom. We went 30 minutes without being able to talk to them. HF was very poor at best. VHF with ATC was good.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B777 Flight Crew departing on an international flight reported losing SATCOM. They were unsure of legal requirements for continuing; and after consultation with Company decided to return to departure airport.

Narrative: Received a SATCOM EICAS. Called Dispatch and Maintenance. After consultation I decided to use my emergency authority and try to reset the SATCOM circuit breaker prior to entering the polar section of our flight. The reset did not work so we asked if Dispatch could talk with the B-777 Fleet Captain to see if we could legally press on. The Fleet Captain said we were not legal to continue. After consultation with Dispatch we dumped 60;000lbs of fuel and returned to departure airport. The ability to communicate with the company was almost non-existent without SATCOM. We went 30 minutes without being able to talk to them. HF was very poor at best. VHF with ATC was good.

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.

B777 flight crew departing on an international flight reported losing satcom. They were unsure of legal requirements for continuing; and after consultation with company decided to return to departure airport.