B747 Undifferentiated or Other Model
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 196; Flight Crew Total 11919; Flight Crew Type 7159
Confusion; Communication Breakdown
ATC Issue All Types; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Clearance
Air Traffic Control Issued New Clearance; Flight Crew Requested ATC Assistance / Clarification; Flight Crew Became Reoriented
Procedure; Human Factors
Arriving into Tokyo Narita airspace; for the second trip in a row; received inadequate holding instructions for a holding pattern not depicted on any source available to the crew. While enroute; instructed to 'hold east of NORMA.' We received no altitude; direction of turn; inbound or outbound course; EFC (Expected Further Clearance); or any expected instructions to define what they actually wanted; except for us to start some pattern. After frantically looking for any pattern anywhere; iPad (electronic flight bag); paper enroute charts; STARS; etc; finally had to ask for more specific instructions and clearance input. We were met with 'standby' by a controller who gave no appearance of knowing why we were asking. This was all within minutes of arriving at the fix. Every aircraft receiving this clearance while we were up on frequency had similar problems. Last time they just changed our holding fix multiple times until they picked one that had something published somewhere; so they could avoid providing the proper information verbally. This time they gave us verbal holding instruction; piecemeal; after each item was specifically requested one at a time.
B747 First Officer arriving RJAA reports being instructed to hold east of NORMA with no other information. The crew cannot find a depicted holding pattern at NORMA and must ask ATC for the necessary information during multiple calls.