B767-300 and 300 ER
Dispatch Dispatcher
Communication Breakdown
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural FAR; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
General None Reported / Taken
Company Policy
Unable to establish communications with aircraft for period of time exceeding 20 min enroute; followed by a second instance still ongoing. Flight was in area over South China Sea out of VHF datalink range; unable to transmit ACARs message via HF data link. No fault of dispatcher or crew; problem caused by placing insufficiently equipped aircraft (i.e; SATCOM; reliable HF data link) on overwater routes. Company in violation of FAR 121.99 for not providing means to maintain rapid and reliable communications.[Suggest a removal of] 767 fleet from [this regions'] routes until such time as they can be equipped appropriately for the mission. Otherwise; only flight plan them to stay within guaranteed VHF datalink range and spend the extra money on time/fuel for the resulting longer routings.
Dispatcher was unable to maintain High Frequency data link contact with crew during a trans-oceanic flight and recommends that the company discontinue the use of this type of aircraft on these routes until better data link radios are installed.