A B757 captain exercised his command authority to deviate around weather during a nyc departure beca...

Attributes
ACN	898562
Time
Date	201007
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	N90.TRACON
State Reference	NY
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B757 Undifferentiated or Other Model
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Climb
Route In Use	Vectors
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 240 Flight Crew Total 10000 Flight Crew Type 3500
Events
Anomaly	Deviation - Procedural Clearance Deviation - Track / Heading All Types Inflight Event / Encounter Weather / Turbulence

Narrative:

While being vectored by new york departure control in a modified B757; we found ourselves within a few miles of a weather buildup; since we were still trying to familiarize ourselves with the radar. We asked new york departure control for a slight deviation around the weather; and were told to 'stand by.' I assumed the controller was coordinating with another controller; so I turned to avoid the weather. The controller then approved our request and said; 'I see you're turning already.' I responded; 'I'm exercising captain's emergency authority;' to which he said; 'you have to tell me that;' to which we didn't respond. I guess I could have told the controller I was deviating before I turned; but I was taken aback; when he told us to stand by. That's not something you typically hear from departure control. I also felt it was pointless to say anything; because he was probably not listening to us. We deviated approximately 3 miles; and did not appear to cause any loss of aircraft separation.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B757 Captain exercised his command authority to deviate around weather during a NYC departure because ATC told him to standby when the weather encounter was becoming imminent. ATC complained that the pilot turned before talking.

Narrative: While being vectored by New York Departure Control in a modified B757; we found ourselves within a few miles of a weather buildup; since we were still trying to familiarize ourselves with the RADAR. We asked New York Departure Control for a slight deviation around the weather; and were told to 'stand by.' I assumed the Controller was coordinating with another Controller; so I turned to avoid the weather. The Controller then approved our request and said; 'I see you're turning already.' I responded; 'I'm exercising Captain's emergency authority;' to which he said; 'you have to tell me that;' to which we didn't respond. I guess I could have told the Controller I was deviating before I turned; but I was taken aback; when he told us to stand by. That's not something you typically hear from Departure Control. I also felt it was pointless to say anything; because he was probably not listening to us. We deviated approximately 3 miles; and did not appear to cause any loss of aircraft separation.

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.

A B757 captain exercised his command authority to deviate around weather during a nyc departure because ATC told him to standby when the weather encounter was becoming imminent. ATC complained that the pilot turned before talking.