Commercial Fixed Wing
Dispatch Dispatcher
Communication Breakdown
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural FAR; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
General None Reported / Taken
Human Factors
At XA:45L I was given this flight in turnover from another dispatcher at the end of his shift. I noticed this fight had turned red on plot as it had blocked out at XZ:57L. Upon turnover; at XA:50L; I zoomed into ZZZ airport via ASDE-X in time to see this aircraft leave the taxiway leading up to the runway; and pull off to the side. At XA:53L I attempted contact with the crew via ACARS to inquire as to what the issue was. After no response; at XA:57L; I sent the 60 minute ACARS template message. Upon not receiving any response; I walked over to MX Control to ask if they were talking to this crew. They stated they had just cut an MEL for the TAT 1 sensor. *NOTE: There was NO MX BLOCK on this aircraft. At XB:00L I sent another message to the crew via ACARS to amend the release to add MEL X. At XB:06L I sent another ACARS message to the crew to let them know it looked like we were good to go and that I observed them getting back into the taxi line. I also asked for confirmation of receiving the amendment and that I needed some sort of communication as it had been over an hour off the gate. Aircraft took off at XB:12L (1 hour 15 minutes after block out)At XB:32L Once aircraft was well out of sterile cockpit; I sent another ACARS message saying 'Good evening guys.' trying to establish some sort of communication with them. At XB:36L Crew finally responded via ACARS to let me know they had their hands full with weather; trying to get out; and a reroute. At XB:45L Crew admitted it was their mistake and that there were several distractions. Crews need to be reminded that MX calls go through dispatch first so we are kept in the loop. MX control needs to utilize ['Out of Service'] MX blocks in [the system] as a means of communicating to others that they are working on the aircraft or with the crew to defer/reset. Crews also need to know that addition of MEL's is required to keep the release legal. A situation with several distractions and missed procedures from several involved departments can result in catastrophe (Flight crew; MX control; dispatch).
Dispatcher reported being completely out of the loop during a lengthy flight delay.