A B747-400; 3 PERSON CARGO FLT CREW EXCEEDS THEIR SCHEDULED 12 HRS IN A 24 HR PERIOD WHEN DEP 15 MINS PRIOR TO SCHEDULED BLOCK TIME FROM ANC; AK.

Narrative

WE FLEW A TRIP FROM SFO TO ANC. WE WERE PRESSURED FROM THE COMPANY TO TAKE MINIMUM REST. WE SAID NO; AND REMAINED OVERNIGHT IN ANC. NEXT DAY WE FLEW ANC-TPE. WE LEFT 13 MINS EARLY AND THAT BROKE THE 12 IN 24 HR RULE. WE DID NOT DO THIS INTENTIONALLY AND HAD A LOT OF PRESSURE FROM THE COMPANY TO LEAVE EARLY. THE COMPANY'S COMPUTER SYS SHOULD HAVE CAUGHT THIS; AS WE SHOULD HAVE. BETTER SCHEDULING WOULD HAVE PREVENTED THIS. WE WERE TOLD TO LEAVE EARLY AND TRUSTED THE COMPANY. THIS WAS NOT INTENTIONAL; AND SHOULD HAVE BEEN VERY PREVENTABLE. SUPPLEMENTAL INFO FROM ACN 585831: 3 CREWMEMBERS AND MYSELF WERE TO DEPART OUT OF SFO TO TPE. ONE CREWMEMBER DID NOT SHOW UP; SO THE COMPANY ASKED US TO LEAVE ASAP AND FLY TO ANCHORAGE; GO INTO CREW REST; THEN PREPARE TO LEAVE FOR TPE FROM ANC. THE FOLLOWING MORNING; JUN/MON/03; I RECEIVED A WAKE-UP CALL NOTIFYING ME OF AN XA30 DEP FOR TPE. THE STATION REPRESENTATIVE INFORMED US THE COMPANY HAD APPROVED US FOR AN EARLY DEP. I WAS NOTIFIED LATER THAT WE MIGHT HAVE A 12 IN 24 HR VIOLATION. I WENT BACK AND CALCULATED MY TIMES AND CAME UP WITH 12 HRS 13 MINS IN 24 HRS. I HAD ASSUMED THAT WITH THE REST WE TOOK IN ANC WE WERE OK ON OUR DUTY TIME. NONE OF US INTENTIONALLY VIOLATED THE DUTY TIMES. HAD I BEEN AWARE; I WOULD NOT HAVE DEPARTED EARLY OR REQUESTED MORE REST TIME. SUPPLEMENTAL INFO FROM ACN 585828: UPON ARR IN MY HOTEL ROOM IN ANC ON THE EVENING OF RETURN FROM TPE; I RECEIVED A VOICE MAIL FROM A MEMBER OF MY UNION'S SCHEDULING COMMITTEE SAYING I HAD A 13 MIN CREW DAY VIOLATION THAT OCCURRED ON A JUNE ANC-TPE FLT. IN MY JUNE BID LINE; I WAS AWARDED A PATTERN THAT WAS TO BE COMPLETED IN 9 DAYS. I WAS INVOLUNTARILY EXTENDED. THE ACFT WAS FUELED FOR SFO-TPE FLT AND AFTER COORD WITH COMPANY OPS; IT WAS DETERMINED THAT WE WOULD DEFUEL AND FLY TO ANC. AFTER DEFUELING 30000 KILOS OF FUEL TO ALLOW US TO LAND JUST UNDER OUR MAX LNDG WT; AND BALANCING THE #2 AND #3 MAIN TANKS TO MAINTAIN TANK BAL LIMITS; WE BLOCKED FOR ANC. UPON LNDG AND ENRTE TO THE HOTEL; WE CALLED SCHEDULING WHO REINFORCED THE 12 HRS REST PERIOD (BLOCK-TO-BLOCK) AND FOR US TO DEPART ASAP. WHEN WE RPTED TO OUR ANC OPS OFFICE THE ASAP DEP WAS AGAIN EMPHASIZED AND WE WERE TOLD OPS SAID A 15 MIN EARLY DEP WAS AUTH. APPARENTLY THE 15 MIN EARLY BLOCK WAS THE PROB AS I WAS TOLD ON THE 4TH DAY (AFTER YET ANOTHER EXTENSION NOW WITH A RETURN DATE OF ANOTHER 4 DAYS).