INADEQUATE RADIO COM EQUIP DISALLOWS DISPATCH COORD WITH ACR FLT DURING QUESTIONABLE RELEASE TO IFR DEST ARPT.
Synopsis
INADEQUATE RADIO COM EQUIP DISALLOWS DISPATCH COORD WITH ACR FLT DURING QUESTIONABLE RELEASE TO IFR DEST ARPT.
Narrative
FLT WAS DISPATCHED TO BTV ILLEGALLY BY DISPATCH FROM THE PREVIOUS SHIFT BASED ON THE FORECAST DISPATCHER. I ATTEMPTED TO REACH THE FLT FROM OUR NEW DISPATCH CTR AT WPORT; CT. USING OUR COMPANY RADIO EQUIP. UNABLE TO MAKE CONTACT; I ATTEMPTED TO CONTACT FLT BY RELAYING THROUGH STATION AND WAS INFORMED THAT THEIR RADIO WAS NOT FUNCTIONING PROPERLY AND THEY COULD NOT REACH THEM. THE CAPT WAS ALSO TRYING TO CONTACT DISPATCH BY RELAYING THROUGH THE STATION AND BY USING COMMON RADIO WHO'S OPERATOR TWICE CONTACTED DISPATCHER FOR A PHONE PATCH BUT COULDN'T MAKE THE CONNECTION ALSO THEY SAID THEY WERE TRYING TO CALL US FOR 10 MIN AND COULD GET NO ANSWER ON THE PHONE WHICH IS PROBABLY TRUE CONSIDERING THAT OUR OFFICE IS DANGEROUSLY UNDERSTAFFED AND OUR TELEPHONE SYS IS NOT ABLE TO HANDLE THE AMOUNT OF CALLS. THE FLT WAS FINALLY CONTACTED USING UNRELIABLE RELAY BTWN ME ON THE TELEPHONE TO THE TICKET AGENT AND THEN RELAYING OVER THE RADIO THAT WAS NOT XMITTING PROPERLY TO THE FLC. I RELAYED ALL THE INFO RELATED TO THE DIV WITH THE EXACT MFR TO REACH THE NEW DIST. IT TOOK MORE THAN 30 MIN TO FINALLY MAKE CONTACT WITH THIS FLT. I DEBRIEFED THIS CAPT LATER AND HE INFORMED ME HE HAD BEEN TRYING TO REACH ME FOR OVER 30 MINS AFTER ENTERING THE HOLD. HE STATED HE WAS IN MODERATE MIXED ICING AND WAS TOLD BY THE STATION THAT I WAS AWARE HE WAS HOLDING; UNABLE TO SHOOT THE APCH INTO BTV AND THAT I HAD SAID 'OK HOLD UNTIL NEXT HRS WX SEQUENCE' WHICH I NEVER SAID. WHEN I FINALLY MADE CONTACT HE SAID HE WAS READY TO DIVERT BUT DECIDED TO TRY AND REACH ME ONE MORE TIME BEFORE DECLARING AN EMER AND PROCEEDING TO HIS ALTERNATE. THIS COM PROBLEM HAS BEEN LIKE THIS FOR SOMETIME AND WE FREQUENTLY HAVE CREWS PROCEED TO ARPTS THAT ARE NOT LEGAL OR HOLD WITHOUT NOTIFYING US. BECAUSE THEY CAN ONLY MAKE CONTACT WITH THE DEST STATIONS PERSONNEL AND RECEIVE INSTRUCTION FROM AGENTS BELIEVING THEY CAME FROM DISPATCHERS THEREBY VIOLATING FAR 121.99; 121.533 AND OTHER. COMPANY MGMNT HAS STATED THAT THEY WILL NOT INVEST IN A PROPER COMS SYS UNTIL 'OFFICIAL' ACTION COMES FROM THE FAR MAKING THEM COMPLY.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.