A320 ACFT. FLC HAD PREFLTED AN ACFT THAT THEN HAD A MECHANICAL REQUIRING A PLANE CHANGE. THE NEW ACFT DIDN'T HAVE A HF RADIO INSTALLED; YET THE ROUTING OVER OCEANIC AIRWAY REQUIRED IT. FLC DIDN'T REALIZE THERE WAS NO HF RADIO INSTALLED UNTIL HANDED OVER TO OCEANIC CTL. THEY WERE ABLE TO RELAY POS RPTS THROUGH ANOTHER ACR UNTIL THEY WERE BACK IN VHF RANGE.

Date: 1997-03 · Aircraft: Large Transport; Low Wing; 2 Turbojet Eng

Anomalies: aircraft-equipment-problem-less-severe|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-far|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-published-material-policy|other-unspecified

Synopsis

A320 ACFT. FLC HAD PREFLTED AN ACFT THAT THEN HAD A MECHANICAL REQUIRING A PLANE CHANGE. THE NEW ACFT DIDN'T HAVE A HF RADIO INSTALLED; YET THE ROUTING OVER OCEANIC AIRWAY REQUIRED IT. FLC DIDN'T REALIZE THERE WAS NO HF RADIO INSTALLED UNTIL HANDED OVER TO OCEANIC CTL. THEY WERE ABLE TO RELAY POS RPTS THROUGH ANOTHER ACR UNTIL THEY WERE BACK IN VHF RANGE.

Narrative

RTE: JAINS AR3 OLDEY G446 RINNY DIRECT MICAS. SIT: IN NY OCEANIC AIRSPACE WITH NO HF RADIO. BACKGROUND: WE WERE DISPATCHED WITH ABOVE ROUTING. DUE TO MECHANICAL PROB WE SWITCHED ACFT AFTER HAVING PREFLTED THE FIRST AIRPLANE. FLT LEFT THE GATE ABOUT 1 1/2 HRS LATE. AT JAINS INTXN AS PNF I ACCEPTED THE HDOF FROM ZJX TO NY. I SUBSEQUENTLY DISCOVERED THERE WAS NO HF RADIO ABOARD THE ACFT. VHF CONTACT WITH COMMERCIAL RADIO WAS UNSUCCESSFUL. OUR POS RPT WAS RELAYED TO COMMERCIAL RADIO VIA ANOTHER ACR FLT ON THE AIR TO AIR FREQ. AT BROOM INTXN VHF WAS RE- ESTABLISHED WITH MIAMI. FLT CONTINUED TO DEST UNEVENTFULLY. CONTRIBUTING FACTORS: THE FIRST AIRPLANE APPEARED TO HAVE HF RADIO ALTHOUGH THE HF CHK WAS NEVER ACCOMPLISHED; DUE TO MECHS IN COCKPIT AND DISTR OF THE DELAY. WHEN IT WAS DECIDED TO SWITCH ACFT PAX AND CREW DID A BAG DRAG TO NEW ACFT. IN THE RESULTANT HURRY TO PREFLT A NEW ACFT AND COORDINATE XFER OF PAX; BAGS; CATERING; FUEL AND NEW PAPERWORK; A HF CHK WAS NEVER ACCOMPLISHED. 1) DISPATCH SHOULD HAVE NOT FILED ROUTING REQUIRING HF. 2) HF CHKS ARE NOT A NORMAL PREFLT ITEM. 3) DUE TO RUSH TO GET PAX TO DEST AND DISTRACTIONS FROM MECHANICAL AND DEPARTING IN A SNOWSTORM; AS CAPT; I FORGOT ABOUT HF RADIO. 4) HAVE FLOWN TO SEVERAL DESTS IN SAME GENERAL AREA AND NEVER NEEDED HF RADIOS BEFORE. 5) ACCEPTED ROUTING FROM DISPATCH; EXPECTING THEM TO KNOW ABOUT LACK OF HF RADIO.

Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.