A B757 CREW; ON A FLT FROM LGA TO DFW; WERE WITHOUT VHF COMS WITH ATC LONG ENOUGH TO CAUSE CONCERN.
Synopsis
A B757 CREW; ON A FLT FROM LGA TO DFW; WERE WITHOUT VHF COMS WITH ATC LONG ENOUGH TO CAUSE CONCERN.
Narrative
OUR LOCATION WAS BTWN MEEOW AND ROBEY INTXNS ON THE BONHAM 4 STAR FOR DFW. WHEN I REALIZED THAT WE WERE STILL TUNED INTO ZME WHICH WAS COMING IN WEAK. WE SHOULD HAVE BEEN COMMUNICATING WITH ZFW. I ASKED THE FO TO CONTACT ZME FOR A FREQ. AT THE SAME TIME; A COMPANY FLT CONTACTED US ON GUARD FREQ AND TOLD US TO CONTACT OUR CHIEF PLT. I DIDN'T QUITE UNDERSTAND THAT MESSAGE. I ASKED THAT FLT FOR A FREQ. HE DID NOT HAVE ONE. DURING THIS TIME; THE FO WAS GIVEN A FREQ BY ZME AND WAS IN CONTACT WITH ZFW. THE FO TOLD ME WHAT ATC HAD TOLD THEM. ATC HAD ASKED OUR ACR DISPATCH TO SEND A FREQ CHANGE VIA ACARS. WE HAD RECEIVED NO ACARS MESSAGES. WE FOUND OUT LATER THAT THE ACARS WAS NOT FUNCTIONING CORRECTLY WHEN WE ATTEMPTED TO OBTAIN THE CHANGEOVER AND THE CONNECTING GATE INFO. UPON GATE ARR; A MECH AND CHIEF PLT WERE WAITING FOR US. THE MECH WAS THERE TO CHK OUR COMS FOR FAILURE AND THE CHIEF PLT WAS THERE TO ASK SOME QUESTIONS. THE CHIEF PLT STATED THAT ATC WAS ATTEMPTING TO CONTACT US FOR ABOUT 1 1/2 HRS; WHICH I FIND TO BE UNTRUE. WE WERE LISTENING TO ATC AND PROBABLY A PERIOD OF APPROX 30 MINS OR LESS PASSED SINCE OUR LAST COM. 1 1/2 HRS IS ABOUT 1/2 THE TOTAL FLT TIME OF OUR TRIP. THE CHIEF PLT ALSO STATED THAT FIGHTER ACFT WERE OR WERE ABOUT TO BE DISPATCHED TO INTERCEPT US. LATER; I SPOKE WITH THE DISPATCHER ASSIGNED TO THE FLT. HE SAID THAT EACH TIME HE ATTEMPTED TO SEND AN ACARS MESSAGE THE SYS REJECTED IT. THIS WAS AFTER WE SENT NUMEROUS MESSAGES TO ONE ANOTHER ABOUT THE WX AND THE RIDE CONDITIONS. HE ALSO SAID THAT HE TRIED TO CONTACT US VIA SATELLITE -- WHICH WE DID NOT RECEIVE. AFTER ABSORBING ALL THAT HAD HAPPENED; I CAN UNDERSTAND THE EXTRA CONCERN BUT CANNOT UNDERSTAND WHY WE EITHER MIGHT HAVE MISSED NUMEROUS RADIO CALLS OR THAT WE DRIFTED OUT OF THE LAST ATC SECTOR WITHOUT A FREQ TO CONTACT.
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Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.