A320
Dispatch Dispatcher
Time Pressure; Distraction; Communication Breakdown; Workload
Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural FAR; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
Flight Crew Became Reoriented; Flight Crew Took Evasive Action
Environment - Non Weather Related; Procedure; Human Factors
Approximately 30 minutes after departure; the flight experienced multiple failures associated with loss of FMGC 1. The Captain requested a phone patch with Maintenance. The SELCAL frequency was 128.9. The Captain had difficulty hearing Maintenance so Dispatch requested ARINC to patch the flight to Dispatch. During the 2nd phone patch; the Captain was unable to speak to Maintenance numerous times. ARINC said the background noise from our office was blocking out the crew's ability to transmit. After asking a group of people sitting close to Dispatch to quiet down; the Captain was able to communicate better; but the room noise was still so loud that constant communication could not be maintained throughout the patch.
An A320 Dispatcher reported that the human generated noise in the dispatch office was so high that he had difficulty on a phone patch with a flight discussing an FMGC issue and so he demanded people sitting close by be quiet.