Interview "Scenario" exams

retrodx said:
Interesting. I’d want to see the verbiage on that just out of curiosity. All the airlines I’ve worked with before, including my present one, draws the line at push time if an alternate wasn't required but forecast changed. C055 is a different story.

So really, this interview question is a poor choice to ask unless the interviewee prefaces it with “At my current airline, according to the manuals….”
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I’ll try to find the verbiage. Technically the point of dispatch IS block out, when the flight is considered “live”, but for all intensive purposes until the flight has taken off, changes should be made in the case the destination now requires and or the alternate goes below C055. I’ll look into it a bit more since it might just be more of an SOP at my airline.

I also might be incorrect with my original statement, wouldn’t be the first time.:p
 
gopherdx said:
I’ll try to find the verbiage. Technically the point of dispatch IS block out, when the flight is considered “live”, but for all intensive purposes until the flight has taken off, changes should be made in the case the destination now requires and or the alternate goes below C055. I’ll look into it a bit more since it might just be more of an SOP at my airline.

I also might be incorrect with my original statement, wouldn’t be the first time.:p
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The Duncan AFS-1 legal interpretation from 2014 (https://www.faa.gov/about/office_or...14/Duncan-AFS-1_2014_Legal_Interpretation.pdf):
Although the regulatory history for § 121.601 is not instructive as to the period of time contemplated as "before the flight" versus the period oftime "during the flight" for consistency with the requirements applicable to aircraft dispatcher and pilot communications in § 121.711, it is appropriate to find that for purposes of § 121.601, a flight begins when the aircraft departs from the departing gate.
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I know of more airlines using OUT time as "departed", and one that goes with starting takeoff roll.
 
I'll just put it this way, at my regional it was hotly debated and our faa inspector chimed in that in flight meant throttles forward on the runway. I then left 121 for a while and when i came back to 121 with a major our policy was the same as my my old airline's inspector.
 
I feel like getting into the Pushed Back vs Wheels Up debate gets just as annoying as Tempo vs Becmg in the weather.

The plane's movin'. The

....
Flightplan is
.
....groovin'....
.
 
shutdown said:
I know of more airlines using OUT time as "departed", and one that goes with starting takeoff roll.
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Not sure which is correct, but ours (at least on ACARS) uses OUT for L1 closed (and p brake released) and OFF for takeoff. Reverse for ON and IN
 
karkland said:
@retrodx, @gopherdx The prioritization reasoning makes a lot of sense! Thank you for the thorough explanations behind each ranking. As for the DRM, is there any free resource out there to familiarize myself? I'm seeing a lot of paid courses available, but no document/pdf that I could just pick up and read.

In regards to the new scenarios @gopherdx brought up -- I haven't gone through this type of material in class yet, so I'm going to make my best educated guess...

First Scenario
  1. Communicate with the pilots to get an idea of their current situation (in order of which flight would have the lowest amount of fuel onboard).
  2. Start looking for alternates in the area to prepare for an event in which the destination airport becomes unsuitable for landing safely
  3. After finding the alternates, send an amended release
  4. Continue to monitor situation and maintain communication with pilots if something comes up
Second Scenario

Assuming the plane is already fueled and is currently sitting at the gate with bags/pax onboard
  1. Talk to flight deck to let them know the flight will likely be delayed until we resolve weight issue
  2. Talk to ground ops to get a better understanding of the situation
    1. How long it takes for fuel trucks to arrive for potential de-fueling (assuming less fuel is possible on this flight)
    2. Potential to move cargo to a different flight that will still arrive close to original ETA
  3. Request for removal of passengers until flight is under MTOW
  4. Remove cargo that can be put on another flight and arrive close to original ETA
  5. De-fuel if possible and no other options are sufficient
Assuming the plane is NOT fueled and is currently sitting at the gate with no bags/pax/crew onboard
  1. Review fuel onboard. Will flight still be safe to get to destination based on WX and current conditions with less fuel? Did we originally plan to tanker "un-needed" fuel?
    1. If safe and legal, reduce planned fuel to meet MTOW limits.
    2. After flight crew arrives, let them know about the amended release (lower fuel from original plane due to weight)
  2. If fuel onboard cannot be adjusted, communicate to ground ops to let them know we will need to remove passengers from the flight.
    1. Get this process started early such that there is sufficient time to find volunteers and avoid forced removals.
  3. If no passengers are willing, remove cargo that can be moved to the next available flight close to original ETA
And for MLDW scenario, I think I'd follow the same steps as above, with the possibility of "dumping/burning" fuel near the ETA to hit the MLDW limits.

I'm hoping I'm somewhat on the right track with my thought process here! This was a really good practice session to think through scenario like this. Thank you for sharing these with me!
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Why not just try to leave early with everyone on board and taxi just a little bit longer until weight is achieved? Half hour of extra time on the taxiway is a lot longer than an hour and a half of moving stuff all over the place?
 
sean29 said:
Why not just try to leave early with everyone on board and taxi just a little bit longer until weight is achieved? Half hour of extra time on the taxiway is a lot longer than an hour and a half of moving stuff all over the place?
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It just depends on the situation. If it’s only a few hundred lbs then sure, move everything into the taxi fuel and have them burn it off running 3 motors. If it’s a few thousand lbs then you’ll be taxiing for a while.
 
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