CTLR AT ATCT COMPLAINS ABOUT SUPVR AND TRACON PROCS BEING UTILIZED DURING LEVEL 1 THROUGH LEVEL 6 TSTM ACTIVITY.
Synopsis
CTLR AT ATCT COMPLAINS ABOUT SUPVR AND TRACON PROCS BEING UTILIZED DURING LEVEL 1 THROUGH LEVEL 6 TSTM ACTIVITY.
Narrative
LNDG RWY 7 AT DEN; WIND 350 DEGS AT 5 KTS. TSTM IN THE AREA CAUSING A SIGNIFICANT WIND SHIFT. WIND NOW 220 DEGS AT 20 KTS WITH A WINDSHEAR ALERT OF -20 KTS. ON 1 MI FINAL CTLR BROKE OUT FIRST 2 ARRS. THE THIRD ARR; A BE02; CALLED TWR ON 10 MI FINAL AND WAS THEN ADVISED ON THE WIND AND WINDSHEAR. WHILE THE PLT SAID HE COULD ACCEPT THE WIND AND LANDED SAFETY; HE SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN PUT IN THAT SIT. THE DEN TRACON ANSWERED WITH 'WE HAD TO GET THEM ON THE GND; WE JUST HAD TOO MANY AIRPLANES;' LEADING ME TO BELIEVE THAT THEY COULD NOT HANDLE THE TFC WHICH IN TURN COMPROMISED THE SAFETY OF THAT ACFT AND CREATED A POTENTIALLY HAZARDOUS INCIDENT. I HAVE BEEN AT THIS ARPT SINCE OPENING AND HAVE SEEN THIS ON MORE THAN THIS INCIDENT. IN NOISE ABATEMENT CONFIGN LNDG RWY 17R; DEPARTING RWY 8. TSTM OFF DEP END OF RWY 8. A B757 TAXIED OUT (WIND 190 DEGS AT 13 KTS). ASR-9 WX RADAR IS OTS. HOWEVER; WE STILL GOT RETURNS OFF THE RADAR SHOWING THAT THE TSTM HAD LEVEL 6 CELLS IN IT. SUPVR WAS ADVISED BY LCL CTLR THAT HE WAS TAKING THE B757 TO RWY 17R. SUPVR THEN ASKED IF THE PLT SAID IT WAS OPERATIONAL NECESSITY. WHEN THE CTLR RESPONDED THAT HE WAS DOING IT BECAUSE OF THE LEVEL 6 TSTM; THE SUPVR THEN SAID TO TAKE HIM TO RWY 8. HE THEN CALLED THE CTLR OVER TO THE SUPVR'S DESK TO LOOK AT THE DOPPLER RADAR AND STATED; 'SEE; THAT'S NOT A LEVEL 6; THAT'S WINDSHEAR!' WHILE IN THE NOISE ABATEMENT AGREEMENT IT STATES YOU CAN DEVIATE FROM THE PROCS DUE TO WIND; WX; ETC; THE SUPVR HAD TO SHOW THAT 'HE WAS IN CHARGE' AND YOU WILL DO WHAT I SAY ATTITUDE. COMPROMISING THE SAFETY OF THAT ACFT AND MAKING THAT ACFT DEPART IN AN AREA OF KNOWN WINDSHEAR ACTIVITY. AS IT TURNED OUT; AS THE ACFT DEPARTED; HE REQUESTED AN IMMEDIATE R TURN TO AVOID THE TSTM. THIS IS AGAIN A DAILY OCCURRENCE WITH SUPVRS. LNDG N RWYS 35L/R AT DEN; TSTM IN THE AREA; WINDSHEAR ALERTS STARTED SHOWING UP FOR RWY 35L/R. ACFT ON FINAL WERE GOING MISSED APCH. TMC IN DEN TRACON CALLED UP TO TWR TO ASK FOR RWY 34 FOR THEIR ARRS WHICH WAS APPROVED DUE TO NO WINDSHEAR ALERTS FOR RWY 34. LCL CTLR WAS ALSO WORKING DEPS OFF RWY 34. WINDSHEARS NOW DISAPPEARED ON RWY 35L WHICH WAS NOW BEING USED ONCE AGAIN FOR ARRS. THE FIRST ARR FOR RWY 35L WENT MISSED APCH AND TURNED TO THE E; CLBING TO 9000 FT AS PER THE LOA. ACFT WERE ALSO DEPARTING RWY 34; TURNING E; CLBING TO 10000 FT. COORD WAS COMPLETED BY THE E/W LCL CTLRS TO ENSURE SEPARATION OF THEIR ACFT. THEN THE E LCL CTLR NOTICED ACFT ON DOWNWIND TO RWY 35L AT 8000 FT AND 9000 FT WITHOUT ANY POINTOUTS OR COORD; CLRLY IN TWR AIRSPACE. A B727 AND B757 CLRED EACH OTHER BY 200 FT AND 2.5 MI. NO ACTION TAKEN BY TRACON AND NO EXPLANATION AS TO WHY THE ACFT WERE IN TWR AIRSPACE WITHOUT POINTOUTS. ANOTHER DANGEROUS SIT BLOWN UNDER THE TABLE. THE NEXT ARR FOR RWY 35L WAS APCHING THE MARKER. THE E SIDE LCL CTLR CALLED THE ACFT 3 TIMES FROM THE MARKER TO A 1 MI FINAL WITHOUT RESPONSE. THE ACFT THEN CALLED THE W SIDE CTLR ON 1/2 MI FINAL STATING HE WAS GOING MISSED APCH. ACFT WAS GIVEN WRONG FREQ FROM DEN TRACON. TWR SUPVR THEN CALLED TRACON SUPVR TO TELL THEM TO GET THE ACFT ON THE RIGHT FREQ. THE NEXT 2 ARRS; 1 FOR RWY 34 AND 1 FOR RWY 35L WERE BOTH AGAIN ON THE WRONG FREQ. THEY WERE ALSO TAGGED FOR THE WRONG RWY (IE; ACFT LINED UP FOR RWY 35L TAGGED FOR RWY 34 AND 34 ARR TAGGED FOR RWY 35L). NO ACTION TAKEN. SUPVRS/MGMNT AT THIS FACILITY ARE CONCERNED ONLY FOR THEMSELVES AND TRACON TMC'S DON'T WANT TO SPEAK OF RWY CHANGES UNTIL THEIR ACFT ARE ON THE GND; REGARDLESS OF WIND OR WX. A DANGEROUS COMBINATION THAT COULD END IN CONFLICT. WHY ARE THE ONLY PEOPLE AT THIS FACILITY (CTLRS/TWR) INTERESTED IN SAFETY? I THOUGHT THAT'S WHAT WE WERE HIRED FOR!
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.