1998-01 · NASA ASRS report 390323
AN ARTCC RADAR CTLR CLAIMS THAT AUTOMATED RADAR HDOFS TO ZDC W26 ARE MISDIRECTED TO W27 SECTOR INSTEAD. THIS RPTR STATES THAT THIS IS A FREQUENT OCCURRENCE.
NGA X AT 17000 FT ON A FLT FROM PBI TO RIC SHOWS A COMPUTER PROJECTED FLT PATH THROUGH ZDC SECTOR 27 AND INTO ZDC SECTOR 26. ACFT IS SLIGHTLY S OF COURSE AND IS MANUALLY FLASHED TO THE SECTOR THE ACFT IS ABOUT TO ENTER; ZDC W26. ZJX SHOWS THE DATA TAG FLASHING TO ZDC W26 BUT THE DATA TAG IS ACTUALLY FLASHING TO ZDC W27. THE ZJX CTLR HAS NO INDICATION THAT THE ACFT IS BEING HANDED OFF TO THE WRONG SECTOR WHICH COULD EASILY LEAD TO AIRSPACE VIOLATIONS AS WELL AS ACFT CONFLICTIONS. THIS IS NOT A ONE TIME EVENT. THE FAA IS AWARE OF THIS PROB BUT HAS NOT RESPONDED TO IT IN ANY WAY. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: RPTR STATES THAT THIS PROB STILL EXISTS. A UCR HAS BEEN FILED AND FACILITY MGMNT CONCURS THAT IT IS A PROB; BUT SO FAR HAVE NOT BEEN SUCCESSFUL IN RECTIFYING IT. RPTR SAID THAT IS NOT AN ISOLATED INCIDENT; BUT OCCURS FREQUENTLY. WHEN AUTOMATED HDOFS ARE MADE TO THE ZDC W26 LIBERTY LOW SECTOR; THE HDOFS ACTUALLY GO TO THE W27 SAMPSON LOW SECTOR INSTEAD; WITH NO INDICATION THAT THE HDOF WAS MISDIRECTED. THE RPTR STATED THAT MANY CTLRS MAKE A MANUAL HDOF INSTEAD OF AN AUTOMATED TO AVOID ANY PROBS. THE RTE IS HEAVILY TRAVELED; SO THIS CONDITION HAPPENS OFTEN.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.
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