LOST PRIMARY AND BACKUP FREQ FOR ABOUT 30 MINS DURING EXTREMELY BUSY PERIOD. NO OTHER BACKUP FREQ AVAILABLE. SECTOR CTLR AT COMBINED SECTOR; HAD AN ACR MAKE BLANKET BROADCAST TO SWITCH ALL ACFT TO THE DIFFERENT FREQ. RPTR CLAIMS A SEPARATE BACKUP FREQ IS NEEDED. MAINT UNAWARE OF WHAT CAUSED THE PROB.
Synopsis
LOST PRIMARY AND BACKUP FREQ FOR ABOUT 30 MINS DURING EXTREMELY BUSY PERIOD. NO OTHER BACKUP FREQ AVAILABLE. SECTOR CTLR AT COMBINED SECTOR; HAD AN ACR MAKE BLANKET BROADCAST TO SWITCH ALL ACFT TO THE DIFFERENT FREQ. RPTR CLAIMS A SEPARATE BACKUP FREQ IS NEEDED. MAINT UNAWARE OF WHAT CAUSED THE PROB.
Narrative
WORKING ABACO HI/LO SECTOR (R59) LOST PRIMARY AND BACKUP FREQ. RADIO SITE LOCATED ON GRAND BAHAMA ISLAND (BHF) APRQ 15 ACFT ON R59 FREQ. IMMEDIATELY HAD TO COMBINE MY POS WITH AN ADJOINING SECTOR; GEORGETOWN HI/LO (R60) WHOM HAD APPROX 30 ACFT ON HIS FREQ. EXTREMELY BUSY! THE R60 CTLR HAD TO HAVE FLT GO OVER AND MAKE A BLANKET BROADCAST ON R59 FREQ; AND ADVISE ALL ACFT TO SWITCH TO R60 FREQ. HIS RADIO SITE IS LOCATED ON NASSAU BAHAMA ISLAND (ZQA) 107 MI AWAY. THE OUTAGE LASTED FOR APPROX 30 MINS WITH NO SEPARATION LOST. THANK GOD. WE NEED A SEPARATE BACKUP SYS. MAINT SAID THEY DO NOT KNOW WHAT HAPPENED. THE CARIBBEAN AREA BTWN MIAMI AND SAN JUAN; PR; DOES NOT HAVE ENOUGH BACKUP COM AND RADAR OVERLAP SYS. STAFF STUDIES SHOW THAT THE TFC HAS BEEN INCREASING BTWN THESE AREAS BY ABOUT 8% EACH YR. ONLY 3 RADARS COVERING 1100 MI; AND 3 TRANSCEIVER SITES. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: RPTR STATED THIS AND A RADAR PROB IS BECOMING A COMMON OCCURRENCE. RPTR SAID A UCR HAS BEEN FILED. RPTR ALLEGED THAT ZMA AND NATCA PERSONNEL HAVE MADE A JOINT PROPOSAL TO HAVE ANOTHER RECEIVER SITE LOCATED ON THE SITE OF A FORMER UNITED STATES MIL BASE. RPTR ALLEGES THAT THERE WAS A MEETING WITH A CONGRESSMAN ABOUT THE RADAR/RADIO PROB IN THE CARIBBEAN AND TO GET THE FAA TO APPLY MORE PRIORITY TO THESE PROB AREAS. ASKED IF A LCL BACKUP SITE IN FLORIDA WOULD BE OF USE; RPTR INDICATED IT WOULD NOT BE CAPABLE OF THE RANGE NEEDED.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.