Narrative:

On our flight to lfru; we decided to call the company to get an update on our alternate (uaaa) weather; as it was marginal at departure time; but still legal for takeoff. After connecting to dispatch; they told us the forecast had deteriorated and we would no longer be able to use it as our alternate. Dispatch amended our release alternate to uttt and gave us the weather and notams as required. Seeing as the charts for the new alternate were still in the storage compartments; we had to get them out and find the new alternate plates. When we finally got everything sorted and were able to look through the plates; we found out that the weather at the new alternate the company gave us was not legal at the time of arrival. By the time that we found this out; we no longer had enough gas to turn around and go to another airport. After applying both of the weather minimums listed in our op specs of either 200/ 1/2 for two approaches to two runways or 400/1 for one approach to one runway; we determined that the lowest visibility we needed was 2400RVR. According to the forecast; 2000m was expected during our time of arrival. There are several things that need to be looked at. Why; when the new weather report for uaaa came out; were we not notified at that time? We would have had plenty of time to take an appropriate course of action. Instead; we took the initiative to call dispatch to get a weather update almost two hours after the new forecast. Why were we given an alternate that after us getting the manuals out and digging through all the plates; was an illegal alternate; due to aircraft limitations? Why did no one see that this was illegal? Also; why is it that when we called dispatch; they asked us where we were on our flight? It seems to me that they are required to know our position. We need to have better flight following; which means actively looking at all available weather and notifying if an alternate goes below required minimums. We need to have dispatchers who have an idea of what our aircraft limitations are; so they know what runways are not legal and what runways are.

Google
 

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: The flight crew of a long range trip into desolate reaches of the mid east take great exception to the quality of service provided by their dispatch organization with respect to flight following; particularly with regard to keeping them advised of the deteriorating weather at their alternate.

Narrative: On our flight to LFRU; we decided to call the company to get an update on our alternate (UAAA) weather; as it was marginal at departure time; but still legal for takeoff. After connecting to Dispatch; they told us the forecast had deteriorated and we would no longer be able to use it as our alternate. Dispatch amended our release alternate to UTTT and gave us the weather and NOTAMs as required. Seeing as the charts for the new alternate were still in the storage compartments; we had to get them out and find the new alternate plates. When we finally got everything sorted and were able to look through the plates; we found out that the weather at the new alternate the company gave us was not legal at the time of arrival. By the time that we found this out; we no longer had enough gas to turn around and go to another airport. After applying both of the weather minimums listed in our op specs of either 200/ 1/2 for two approaches to two runways or 400/1 for one approach to one runway; we determined that the lowest visibility we needed was 2400RVR. According to the forecast; 2000m was expected during our time of arrival. There are several things that need to be looked at. Why; when the new weather report for UAAA came out; were we not notified at that time? We would have had plenty of time to take an appropriate course of action. Instead; we took the initiative to call Dispatch to get a weather update almost two hours after the new forecast. Why were we given an alternate that after us getting the manuals out and digging through all the plates; was an illegal alternate; due to aircraft limitations? Why did no one see that this was illegal? Also; why is it that when we called Dispatch; they asked us where we were on our flight? It seems to me that they are required to know our position. We need to have better flight following; which means actively looking at all available weather and notifying if an alternate goes below required minimums. We need to have Dispatchers who have an idea of what our aircraft limitations are; so they know what runways are not legal and what runways are.

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.