Narrative:

When we arrived at the jet; maintenance had one of the tires removed from the left main gear. During the preflight we received an ACARS message. The message said something to the effect for the crew to wait to get a clearance from maintenance prior to departure. The crew understood that meant that maintenance had to complete the work and appropriate paperwork. (We had never learned that the paperwork needed to be transferred into the computer system before we were allowed to block out). The crew understood this was something related to the maintenance being performed on the jet (the jet had a repeat inspection on the left main gear). After the foreign mechanic completed the inspection and repairs and signed off the log book; we asked him if everything was in order and if the jet was clear to depart. We assumed he was in the loop regarding the previous ACARS messages that we received. Several inquiries were made to this effect with the mechanic to ensure that everything was complete (we rephrased this several times because of the communication barrier between our english and his english). After these discussions and while the gate personnel and maintenance was in the cockpit; we attempted to contact dispatch via the satcom and were unable to get a good connection. We then again attempted to clarify that everything was properly performed and we were cleared to depart. The crew asked; 'do we need a new computer print out stating that our log book is ok?' (the crew wanted to ensure that we were fulfilling the requirements for getting the information updated in the computer system). The mechanic assured us that getting a computer print out was not necessary. Again; all of us reviewed the logbook and verified the entries to ensure that it was performed properly. The communicated message between the station; the mechanic; and the crew was that the flight was ok for departure. We finished the preflight and pushed back. During the push back we had a mechanical problem and aborted the push back; and were towed back into parking. We told the mechanic that we did not want them to come into the jet during the tow into parking (the crew did not want to cause a block turn back). When we were in the parking spot and while the crew was diagnosing the problem; the mechanic opened the cabin door (causing the jet to log a block turn back). After he entered the cockpit; he informed us that he wanted to get involved with diagnosing the mechanical problem with our jet (possibly caused by the communication barrier between accents). The crew wanted to keep dispatch updated with our status since we were now going to be departing late; so we sent dispatch an ACARS message. The return ACARS message from dispatch stated that they were still trying to get approval for our flight to block out. This ACARS message seemed confusing to us since we honestly believed that we had already been approved to block out earlier when we (the crew; the mechanic; the maintenance supervisor and the gate representatives) were confirming that all required maintenance actions were completed prior to our block out. To resolve the confusion; we contacted dispatch via ACARS to inquire if we were cleared to block out. The reply was that our maintenance information was not yet entered into the computer system and that we should continue to wait until receiving another message from dispatch. To ensure that there was no confusion; the crew used the gate rep's cell phone to contact dispatch to clarify. Approximately 1 hour after the initial maintenance was completed; we received an ACARS message from dispatch stating something to the effect that our maintenance information was updated in the computer system and we were cleared to depart. Looking back at this; the crew thought about how this confusion could have been prevented. A few suggestions were made: 1. Call the crew and talk to the crew over the phone to ensure that there is a full understanding of the procedure that is to be followed and to prevent any confusion. 2. Have all parties (gate reps; mechanics; crew) at the station involved and understand that the jet is not to be released until receiving a final message from dispatch. This way there are more people that understand that dispatch will be giving the ok for the flight to push back and it would be dependent upon the information being updated into the computer system. 3. Don't issue the release until all the required inputs are made into the computer system. Or if a release is issued in advance; then have it labeled 'for reference only' so that the crew can prepare the jet for the flight while understanding that the flight is not ready for release. 4. Improve communication to ensure that the message being sent is the message being received by all parties. This will help prevent any misunderstandings.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B767-300 at a foreign airport was delayed for maintenance and paperwork release. Because of language difficulty and incomplete instructions from Dispatch the crew attempted to depart prior to completion of all legal maintenance entries.

Narrative: When we arrived at the jet; Maintenance had one of the tires removed from the left main gear. During the preflight we received an ACARS message. The message said something to the effect for the crew to wait to get a clearance from Maintenance prior to departure. The Crew understood that meant that Maintenance had to complete the work and appropriate paperwork. (We had never learned that the paperwork needed to be transferred into the computer system before we were allowed to Block Out). The crew understood this was something related to the maintenance being performed on the jet (The jet had a repeat inspection on the left main gear). After the Foreign Mechanic completed the inspection and repairs and signed off the log book; we asked him if everything was in order and if the jet was clear to depart. We assumed he was in the loop regarding the previous ACARS messages that we received. Several inquiries were made to this effect with the Mechanic to ensure that everything was complete (we rephrased this several times because of the communication barrier between our English and his English). After these discussions and while the gate personnel and Maintenance was in the cockpit; we attempted to contact Dispatch via the SATCOM and were unable to get a good connection. We then again attempted to clarify that everything was properly performed and we were cleared to depart. The Crew asked; 'Do we need a new computer print out stating that our log book is OK?' (The crew wanted to ensure that we were fulfilling the requirements for getting the information updated in the computer system). The Mechanic assured us that getting a computer print out was not necessary. Again; all of us reviewed the logbook and verified the entries to ensure that it was performed properly. The communicated message between the station; the Mechanic; and the crew was that the flight was OK for departure. We finished the preflight and pushed back. During the push back we had a mechanical problem and aborted the push back; and were towed back into parking. We told the Mechanic that we did not want them to come into the jet during the tow into parking (the crew did not want to cause a BLOCK TURN BACK). When we were in the parking spot and while the crew was diagnosing the problem; the Mechanic opened the cabin door (causing the jet to log a BLOCK TURN BACK). After he entered the cockpit; he informed us that he wanted to get involved with diagnosing the mechanical problem with our jet (Possibly caused by the communication barrier between accents). The crew wanted to keep Dispatch updated with our status since we were now going to be departing late; so we sent Dispatch an ACARS message. The return ACARS message from Dispatch stated that they were still trying to get approval for our flight to Block Out. This ACARS message seemed confusing to us since we honestly believed that we had already been approved to Block Out earlier when we (the crew; the Mechanic; the Maintenance Supervisor and the gate representatives) were confirming that all required maintenance actions were completed prior to our Block Out. To resolve the confusion; we contacted Dispatch via ACARS to inquire if we were cleared to Block Out. The reply was that our maintenance information was not yet entered into the computer system and that we should continue to wait until receiving another message from Dispatch. To ensure that there was no confusion; the Crew used the Gate Rep's cell phone to contact Dispatch to clarify. Approximately 1 hour after the initial maintenance was completed; we received an ACARS message from Dispatch stating something to the effect that our maintenance information was updated in the computer system and we were cleared to depart. Looking back at this; the crew thought about how this confusion could have been prevented. A few suggestions were made: 1. Call the crew and talk to the crew over the phone to ensure that there is a full understanding of the procedure that is to be followed and to prevent any confusion. 2. Have all parties (Gate Reps; Mechanics; Crew) at the station involved and understand that the jet is not to be released until receiving a final message from Dispatch. This way there are more people that understand that DISPATCH will be giving the OK for the flight to PUSH BACK and it would be dependent upon the information being updated into the computer system. 3. Don't issue the release until all the required inputs are made into the computer system. Or if a release is issued in advance; then have it labeled 'For Reference Only' so that the crew can prepare the jet for the flight while understanding that the flight is not ready for release. 4. Improve communication to ensure that the message being sent is the message being received by all parties. This will help prevent any misunderstandings.

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.