Commercial Fixed Wing
Dispatch Dispatcher
Communication Breakdown; Situational Awareness
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
General None Reported / Taken
Procedure; Equipment / Tooling; Human Factors
I received an ACARS message from one of my flights stating: 'what's with that last message about do not take off.' I replied: 'HAVE NO IDEA...YOUR ACARS MSG IS MY FIRST INDICATION. STAND-BY …CHECKING.' I then checked the flight history and saw a canned message from load planning: '...YOUR FINAL WEIGHT AND BALANCE HAS BEEN DELETED AND IS IN THE PROCESS OF BEING UPDATED. DO NOT TAKEOFF UNTIL YOU OBTAIN A NEW FINAL W/B-...PLZ ACKNOWLEDGE END.' The Dispatcher must be brought into the loop immediately when or prior to this message being sent. Why does this message say towards the end 'PLZ ACKNOWLEDGE;' when the person sending this canned message does not have the capability of receiving any acknowledgement? The Dispatcher is the one who can receive the acknowledgement but has no idea the message has been sent. WHY?
An air carrier Dispatcher expressed concern that an interruption in providing valid takeoff data from load planning to one of his flights had not been directed through him.