Date: 201603
Local time of day: 1201-1800
Flight conditions: VMC
Aircraft: B757 Undifferentiated or Other Model
Operator: Air Carrier
Operating under: Part 121
Flight plan: IFR
Mission: Passenger
Flight phase: Cruise
Reporter organization: Air Carrier
Reporter function: Dispatcher
Human factors: Communication Breakdown
Second reporter function: Dispatcher
Anomaly: Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
Detector: Person Flight Crew
When detected: In-flight
Result: Flight Crew Diverted; Flight Crew Landed in Emergency Condition
Contributing factors: Aircraft; Procedure; Company Policy
Primary problem: Aircraft

Narrative: A B757 while enroute had an 'uncontrollable oscillation issue'. The pilot and the dispatcher determined to divert and Maintenance Control was never consulted about the decision to divert. The Dispatcher and crew worked out their diversion information and while the Operations Manager was notifying the Chief Pilot; and making necessary reports a Maintenance Controller asked if this flight was diverting and requested to know why they were not consulted and why the flight was diverting. Once I explained that the crew reported an oscillation issue the Maintenance Controller insisted that this aircraft had history and that Maintenance Control should have been consulted. The Maintenance Controller then went to his computer terminal and sent the following message to the flight that was diverting; after they had [advised ATC].ATTN CAPT XXXXTHIS PLANE HAS HISTORYPLEASE MAKE SELF AVAILABLE FOR DEBRIEFON ARRIVAL.. WAS HF OR VHF RADIOS BEING USEDDURING OCCURANCEThis message was sent after a decision had been made to divert and may have been sent to a crew that was under duress after [advising ATC]. This message violates operational protocols and violates the joint responsibility shared by pilots and dispatchers. Once a flight has determined to divert communications should be limited to operational needs; the above message could have been sent after the flight was on the ground. Additionally the maintenance control group seemed especially concerned that there was no conference with them prior to diverting. While Maintenance Control input is helpful in most cases there was/is no requirement to include them in the decision process.


Second narrative: While in flight the Captain called me via the SATCOM and requested patch with Chief Pilot. I attempted to get Chief Pilot on the line and while holding requested the nature of the call. The captain said that they were experiencing unusual activity by the aircraft with several strong then subsequent lighter; side to side lateral oscillations with movement of the tail left and right. They were also getting a Brake temperature warning light but the instruments were reporting the brake temperature as normal. When the tail oscillation would occur they would get a squeal in the speakers on the flight deck although the crew thought that might just be a coincidence.We were still waiting for the Chief Pilot to get off of their current call I asked the captain if they wanted a patch with maintenance control. At that point the captain said that they did not feel safe flying the aircraft like that across the country so once that call ended they were going to be diverting. The Captain did [advise ATC] and landed the aircraft safely. While I was working the flight; the Chief Dispatcher advised the maintenance controller of the diversion and they were upset that they were not included in the decision to divert. While I do think it was a good idea for the crew to talk with them (hence my suggestion to patch in Maintenance Control) the crew declined it. While the crew was preparing the aircraft for landing the maintenance controller was sending them messages requesting details of the nature of the problem and to let the crew know there was a history of this with the aircraft. I am not sure if the maintenance controller was aware of the [priority handling]; but I do think they should have asked before sending potentially distracting messages to an aircraft that has [advised ATC about immediate landing].


Synopsis: While enroute a B757 had an uncontrollable oscillation. Worked with Dispatch to divert to another airport when Maintenance Control sent an ACARS message that may have distracted the flight crew while under duress.