P31 CTLR POINTS OUT DIMINISHING SEPARATION BTWN 2 ACFT ON FINAL APCH TO PNS. CTLR ON POS EVENTUALLY TAKES ACTION ONLY AFTER SEPARATION IS LOST.

1999-06 · NASA ASRS report 442647

Date: 1999-06 · Aircraft: Kiowa/Kiowa Warrior/Combat Scout

Anomalies: atc-issue-all-types|conflict-airborne-conflict|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-published-material-policy

Synopsis

P31 CTLR POINTS OUT DIMINISHING SEPARATION BTWN 2 ACFT ON FINAL APCH TO PNS. CTLR ON POS EVENTUALLY TAKES ACTION ONLY AFTER SEPARATION IS LOST.

Narrative

I WAS INSTRUCTED TO RELIEVE ANOTHER CTLR FROM THE ARR SECTOR. AFTER PLUGGING INTO THE POS TO BEGIN THE BRIEFING; I NOTICED 2 ACFT THAT APPEARED TOO CLOSE. IN THE ATTACHED STATEMENT; THE FOLLOWING IS CORRECT: XXX WAS THE SIC. YYY WAS THE CTLR TO BE RELIEVED; 'P-AR' THE SECTOR OF OP; 'ICSS' (VOICE SWITCHING SYS) THAT CTLS LANDLINES AND RADIOS; ARTS IIE (THE ALPHA NUMERIC SYS) USED WITH THE RADAR DISPLAY; SIA (SYS INFO AREA) THAT DISPLAYS WX; RWY INFO; ETC. THE SIC OBSERVED THE ENTIRE INCIDENT BUT TOOK NO ACTION AGAINST THE EMPLOYEE. THE SUPVR SEEMED TO BE 'COVERING' FOR THE CTLR INVOLVED. THE ATTACHED STATEMENT IS THE ONE I SUBMITTED AFTER I RPTED THIS OCCURRENCE TO MY SUPVR. HE BEGAN PROCESSING THE OPERROR AND HAS BEEN CRITICIZED IN HIS HANDLING OF THIS EVENT (CONCERNING TIMELINESS OF RPT): I WAS INSTRUCTED BY THE SUPVR TO RELIEVE CTLR #2 AT THE P-AR POS. I (CTLR #1) PLUGGED MY HEADSET INTO THE ICSS JACK AND BEGAN TO PREBRIEF MYSELF ON THE SYS INFO AREA AND THE STRIPS IN THE STRIP BAY. AFTER PREBRIEFING WAS COMPLETE; I OBSERVED 2 ACFT (ACFT X AND ACFT Y) ON THE RWY 17 FINAL APCH COURSE THAT APPEARED TO HAVE QUESTIONABLE SEPARATION. I LOOKED AT THE STRIP BAY TO ASSOCIATE THE DATA BLOCK INFO WITH THE ARR STRIPS. IT APPEARED TO ME THAT BOTH ACFT WERE IFR. CTLR #2 BEGAN ISSUING TFC TO ACFT X REF THE TFC AHEAD OF HIM ON THE APCH. ACFT Y RESPONDED THAT HE DID NOT HAVE THE TFC IN SIGHT. CTLR #2 THEN CALLED PNS TWR LCL CTLR TO SEE IF HE HAD THE ACFT IN SIGHT (PRESUMABLY TO HAVE THE TWR PROVIDE VISUAL SEPARATION). THE LCL CTLR ADVISED HIM THAT HE DID NOT HAVE THE ACFT INSIGHT. IT APPEARED TO ME THE SEPARATION WAS CONTINUALLY REDUCING. ON AT LEAST 2 OCCASIONS; I OBSERVED CTLR #2 USE THE ARTS IIE '*' ENTRY (TO OBTAIN BEARING/DISTANCE) BTWN THE 2 ACFT AND IT DISPLAYED 2.2 NM. HE SAID HE WOULD BEGIN BRIEFING ME IF I WAS 'OK WITH THAT;' REFERRING TO THE SIT BTWN THE 2 ACFT. I TOLD HIM IF IT WERE UP TO ME; I WOULD BREAK ACFT X OFF THE FINAL. AT THAT POINT; CTLR #2 PULLED MY PLUG OUT OF THE ICSS JACK; DROPPED IT ON THE FLOOR AND TOLD ME TO GO SOMEWHERE ELSE. CTLR #2 THEN TURNED HIS HEAD OVER HIS SHOULDER AND MADE THE STATEMENT TO SUPVR THAT HE WAS HAVING A DEAL OR HAD JUST HAD A DEAL. SUPVR; WHO HAD BEEN OBSERVING THE ENTIRE TIME; CONTINUED TO WATCH THE SIT. CTLR #2 THEN BEGAN TO ISSUE TFC TO ACFT X USING ACFT Y'S CALL SIGN. AFTER THE SECOND CALL USING THE WRONG CALL SIGN; ASKING ACFT X IF HE HAD THE TFC IN SIGHT; SUPVR TOLD CTLR #2 HE WAS USING THE WRONG CALLSIGN. CTLR #2 THEN ASKED ACFT X IF HE HAD THE TFC IN SIGHT USING THE CORRECT CALL SIGN. EVENTUALLY CTLR #2 INSTRUCTED ACFT X TO TURN L OFF THE FINAL APCH COURSE. I WAS OBSERVING THE OP FROM THE F-AR SCOPE ACROSS THE ROOM. AFTER A COUPLE OF MINS; CTLR #2 CALLED ME BACK TO THE POS AND SAID HE WAS READY FOR ME TO GET HIM UP. AT THAT TIME I RECEIVED A BRIEFING AND ASSUMED THE P-AR POS.

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

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