ARTS KEYBOARD ENTRY FROM TMB TO RECONFIGURE VIDEO MAP CAUSED MIA TRACON TWR'S RADAR TO FAIL. RPTR ALLEGES THAT THE KEYBOARD ENTRY WAS CHANGED; BUT TRACON MGMNT FAILED TO FOLLOW UP WITH TEAM BRIEFINGS. KEYBOARD ENTRY AT TMB HAS BEEN DISABLED PENDING BRIEFINGS AND ARTS TRAINING FOR TWR PERSONNEL.

Date: 1996-05

Anomalies: other-no-specific-anomaly-occurred|other-unspecified

Synopsis

ARTS KEYBOARD ENTRY FROM TMB TO RECONFIGURE VIDEO MAP CAUSED MIA TRACON TWR'S RADAR TO FAIL. RPTR ALLEGES THAT THE KEYBOARD ENTRY WAS CHANGED; BUT TRACON MGMNT FAILED TO FOLLOW UP WITH TEAM BRIEFINGS. KEYBOARD ENTRY AT TMB HAS BEEN DISABLED PENDING BRIEFINGS AND ARTS TRAINING FOR TWR PERSONNEL.

Narrative

I MADE AN INCORRECT KEYBOARD ENTRY WHICH CAUSED MIAMI APCH CTL TO LOSE THEIR RADAR; MIAMI TWR TO DELAY DEPS; AND MIAMI ARTCC TO PUT INBOUND ACFT INTO HOLDING. IT TOOK MIAMI APCH 10-20 MINS TO REALIZE HOW THIS HAPPENED. I MADE THIS ENTRY IN AN ATTEMPT TO REALIGN MY AIRSPACE MAP AFTER THE MIAMI RADAR FAILED AND THE FT LAUDERDALE RADAR CAME INTO USE. HOWEVER; MIAMI APCH HAD CHANGED THE KEYBOARD ENTRY; BUT DID NOT NOTIFY TAMIAMI TWR. NO BRIEFINGS ON THIS CHANGE WERE HELD. MGMNT PLANS TO CORRECT THE SIT BY PROPERLY TRAINING ALL TMB TWR CTLRS. THE ABILITY TO MAKE KEYBOARD ENTRIES TO MIAMI'S RADAR ROOM HAS BEEN REMOVED. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH MIA TRACON AUTOMATION SPECIALIST REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: DURING CALLBACK TO THE MIA TRACON; AN AUTOMATION SPECIALIST WHO WAS FAMILIAR WITH THIS INCIDENT STATED THAT THE TMB CTLR MADE AN INCORRECT SUPERVISORY KEYBOARD ENTRY THAT CHANGED THE TRACON'S RADAR SITE CONFIGN. THIS CHANGE TRANSFERRED THE RADAR FROM THE FT LAUDERDALE TO THE MIA SITE; WHICH WAS OTS. THE AUTOMATION SPECIALIST ALSO DISPUTES THE RPTR'S CLAIM THAT A SOFTWARE MODIFICATION WAS INITIATED AND NOT BRIEFED. SUPPLEMENTAL INFO FROM ACN 337886: THE MIAMI RADAR WAS UNDER REPAIR (THE NORMAL RADAR SITE) AND THE FT LAUDERDALE SITE WAS BEING USED (THE SECONDARY BACK-UP SITE). FIRST OF ALL; WHEN THE TMB (TAMIAMI TWR) CTLRS OPENED THE VFR LEVEL II TWR THAT MORNING; THEY WERE NOT INFORMED THAT THE FT LAUDERDALE SITE WAS IN USE; BUT SOON FIGURED IT OUT ON THEIR OWN. LATER WE NOTICED THAT RADAR HAD CHANGED TO THE MIAMI SITE (MIAMI APCH DID NOT INFORM US OF THIS). I CALLED THE APCH CTLR TO ASK ABOUT THIS AND HE SAID WE WERE ON THE MIAMI SITE. I ASKED HIM WHAT ENTRY DO WE USE TO REALIGN THE DATA/TAGS TO THE CORRESPONDING PRIMARY TARGETS AND HE TOLD ME WHAT TO DO AND I HUNG UP THE PHONE. IT DIDN'T WORK. BY THE WAY; THE INFO WAS DIFFERENT THAN WHAT WE USED IN THE PAST. WE WANT TO KNOW WHY WE AREN'T INFORMED ABOUT THE CHANGES. TMB ENDED UP; BECAUSE OF NO TRAINING ON THE SUBJECT; ENTERING A COMMAND THAT CRASHED THE ENTIRE RADAR ARTS FOR THE AREA. SUPPLEMENTAL INFO FROM ACN 337704: THIS INCIDENT PERTAINS TO AN INCIDENT THAT OCCURRED (WHICH WAS WHEN TAMIAMI TWR MADE A KEYBOARD ENTRY THAT CAUSED MIA TWR AND FLL TWR TO LOSE THEIR RADAR FOR ABOUT 15 MINS). THE INCIDENT WAS A PHONE CALL. SOMEONE CALLED ON THE PHONE (COMMERCIAL NON RECORDED LINE) AND SAID HE WAS CALLING FROM MIAMI AND THAT HE NEEDED ME TO GO TO THE KEYBOARD AND ENTER 'XXXX.' THIS IS THE ENTRY THAT CAUSED MIAMI RADAR TO GO DOWN. I TOLD THE CALLER THAT IT WOULDN'T BE A GOOD IDEA TO DO THAT AND THAT HE SHOULD BE CAREFUL BECAUSE SOMEONE MAY HAVE ACTUALLY FOLLOWED HIS INSTRUCTIONS. THE CALLER LAUGHED. I RPTED THIS TO MY SUPVR.

Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.