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When his communication software failed without notice an air carrier dispatcher was unable to communicate with flights under his jurisdiction.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 979540 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201111 |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | A320 |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Dispatcher |
| Qualification | Dispatch Dispatcher |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Deviation - Procedural Other / Unknown |
Narrative:
When I started my shift I sent a test message to make sure ACARS message routing software was working properly. The first test failed; and after a restart of the software the second test worked properly. All appeared to be working properly for the next few hours. About 4 hours into the shift I had received a gross weight increase message for one of my flights. I reran the flight plan and sent a message about the TOGW increase and a corresponding burn increase. I then waited for an ACARS response from the flight; not realizing the software had failed again. The crew eventually called on the phone and a new flight plan was sent. They had sent four ACARS messages requesting a new flight plan; none of which I received. After a new release was generated and the flight plan was sent I had it/system admin check the software. After another restart it populated with the 4 ACARS messages previously sent by the crew.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: When his communication software failed without notice an air carrier Dispatcher was unable to communicate with flights under his jurisdiction.
Narrative: When I started my shift I sent a test message to make sure ACARS message routing software was working properly. The first test failed; and after a restart of the software the second test worked properly. All appeared to be working properly for the next few hours. About 4 hours into the shift I had received a gross weight increase message for one of my flights. I reran the flight plan and sent a message about the TOGW increase and a corresponding burn increase. I then waited for an ACARS response from the flight; not realizing the software had failed again. The crew eventually called on the phone and a new flight plan was sent. They had sent four ACARS messages requesting a new flight plan; none of which I received. After a new release was generated and the flight plan was sent I had IT/System Admin check the software. After another restart it populated with the 4 ACARS messages previously sent by the crew.
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.