Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Training / Qualification; Situational Awareness; Communication Breakdown
Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical
Flight Crew Landed in Emergency Condition; General Declared Emergency; General Maintenance Action
Aircraft
About halfway on the flight we had a total loss of A Hydraulics System. The Elevator Low Pressure light came on and followed immediately by the Rudder Low Pressure. The Captain saw his lights on the front panel also. The A System Pressure gauge and quantity dropped to zero immediately. We ran the stabilizer followed by the QRH procedures for Hydraulic Leak or Loss and closed the fluid shutoff switches. We descended to FL280 for yaw damper limitations. I attempted several times to contact Dispatch using SATCOM without success. They somehow saw we were attempting them to call and contacted us. I was able to give the basic info before we lost SATCOM again. We had several short contacts with them before landing. Reaching our destination; I used the alternate flap system to deploy the flaps and leading edge devices and then manually cranked the gear. We declared an emergency with Approach and had an uneventful landing. Maintenance pinned the gear and we were towed to the ramp. All checklists and QRH procedures were accomplished as per Company SOP.
[Narrative 2 contains no additional information]
B757 A Hydraulic system failed in flight. The QRH was completed; flight descended to FL280 for the Yaw Dampener restriction and; before landing; an emergency was declared.