1 CTLR HANDLING ALL ACFT OPS ON LATE NIGHT SHIFT INCLUDING VECTORING ARRS; DEPS; AND GND TFC. FLC RPTED FREQ CONGESTION AND WAS UNABLE TO ADVISE THE CTLR OF NEED TO DEV FOR WX ON DEP RTE.
Synopsis
1 CTLR HANDLING ALL ACFT OPS ON LATE NIGHT SHIFT INCLUDING VECTORING ARRS; DEPS; AND GND TFC. FLC RPTED FREQ CONGESTION AND WAS UNABLE TO ADVISE THE CTLR OF NEED TO DEV FOR WX ON DEP RTE.
Narrative
FOR THE LAST 2 DAYS I HAVE BEEN FLYING OUT OF SAT TO MEM. SAT TWR HAS 1 CTLR ON LATE AT NIGHT. WE GO TO OUR ACFT AROUND XX30 HRS; PICKUP THE CLRNC; OR AT LEAST TRY TO. FOR THE LAST 2 NIGHTS THE CTLR HAS BEEN TALKING ALMOST NON-STOP; HE IS SATURATED. LOW OVCST; HE IS VECTORING ACFT FOR APCHS; GIVING TAXI INSTRUCTIONS; CLRNCS; CUTTING NEW ATIS AND EVEN 1 NIGHT A LOST AIRPLANE; IN CLOUDS THAT HE IS TRYING TO TAKE CARE OF. THIS NIGHT WAS MY FINAL STRAW. AFTER DEP; HE TURNED US N TO INTERCEPT THE 'ALAMO 2 - GOBBY TRANSITION.' AS WE TURNED 60 DEGS L TO 330 DEGS WE SAW SEVERAL TSTMS PAINTING RED ON OUR RADAR. I ASKED THE FO IF HE COULD GET A WORD IN EDGEWISE TO LET SAT TWR/DEP CTL KNOW THAT WE NEEDED TO DEVIATE FOR WX. AFTER TRYING FOR (APPROX) 2 1/2 MINS; THE CTLR TALKED NON-STOP; WE DEVIATED R OF COURSE; EVEN THOUGH WE HAD NOT INTERCEPTED THE ALAMO 2. I AM NOT AWARE OF ANY TFC CONFLICT AND SAT TWR WAS WORKING ARR AND DEP FREQS TOO. WE WERE CHANGED TO ZHU AND TOLD THEM ON CONTACT THAT WE WERE DEVIATING FOR WX AND HAD BEEN UNABLE TO TELL SAT. THE SOLUTION TO ME WOULD KEEP TWO OR MORE CTLRS WORKING LATER AT NIGHT AND EARLIER IN THE MORNING. A WK EARLIER ON A SCHEDULED ACR FLT AS THE PNF WE WERE RUN THROUGH THE LOC TO RWY 3 WHILE THE ATC CTLR READ AN IFR CLRNC TO AN ACFT ON THE GND. HE THEN TURNED US BACK TOWARD THE LOC AND R AT THE NDB. ALMOST ON TOP OF THE LOC HE FINALLY CLRED US FOR THE ILS TO RWY 3. (700 FT BROKEN AND 3 MI.) WE WENT THROUGH GS WITH FULL LOC DEFLECTION; HAD TO DO A MISSED APCH. THE SECOND VECTOR WAS NOT MUCH BETTER AND DURING ALL THIS HE/ATC SAT WAS GIVING TAXI INSTRUCTIONS AND OTHER CLRNCS. THESE CTLRS ARE WORKING ALL STATIONS; MAKING MORE MONEY; BUT THE ACFT ARE LOSING SAFETY WITH THE CTLR'S ATTN SO DIVIDED. THERE NEEDS TO BE A CHKING OF THE WORKLOADS AT VARIOUS HRS OF THE NIGHT (HOW MANY ACFT SCHEDULED TO ARR AND DEP VERSUS THE ACTUAL NUMBER OF ACFT) TO TRULY SEE IF 1 CTLR CAN SAFELY DO THE JOB. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: RPTR STATED THAT TFC SEEMED TO BE ON THE INCREASE IN THE LAST MONTH AT THIS ARPT. SHE INDICATED THAT NOT ALL CTLRS ADHERED TO PRIORITY OF DUTIES LIKE TALKING TO AN ACFT ON THE GND INSTEAD OF COM TO AN ACFT IN FLT. RPTR FELT THAT A CTLR SHOULD STAY OVER DURING THE BUSY PERIOD TO ASSIST WITH THE TFC. SHE INDICATED THE EARLY MORNING PERIOD ALSO NEEDS SOMEONE TO ASSIST WITH THE TFC. RPTR SAID THE ACFT FLOWN WAS A B727.
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Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.