MD88 FLC ENCOUNTERS SINGLE CTLR; MULTIPLE FREQ OP THAT HAS A NEGATIVE IMPACT ON PLTS FLYING THROUGH THE AREA.

Date: 2001-04 · Aircraft: MD-88 · Phase: cruise

Anomalies: deviation-discrepancy-procedural-published-material-policy

Synopsis

MD88 FLC ENCOUNTERS SINGLE CTLR; MULTIPLE FREQ OP THAT HAS A NEGATIVE IMPACT ON PLTS FLYING THROUGH THE AREA.

Narrative

ATC (ZJX) WAS USING 8 (THAT'S RIGHT! AND HE ANNOUNCED THE LIST TO US ALL) DIFFERENT FREQS AT ONE TIME. HE HAD TO TELL EVERYONE TO SHUT UP AND THAT ONLY HE WOULD TALK. WHEN I AND OTHERS ATTEMPTED TO CHK IN OR CALL HIM; THAT WAS THE REPLY; 'DON'T TALK; I'LL CALL YOU -- EVERYONE BE QUIET.' ACFT ON THE DIFFERENT FREQS WERE UNABLE TO SEQUENCE THEMSELVES INTO THE COM FLOW AND AS A RESULT; COM WAS 1-WAY NOT 2-WAY. THE CTLR COMPLAINED HE COULD NOT HEAR OTHER ACFT AND THAT WE WERE STEPPING ON EACH OTHER; YET WE APPEARED TO BE THE ONLY ACFT ON OUR FREQ. EACH NEW ACFT CHKING ONTO THE FREQS SEEMED; FROM HIS COMMENTS ON ALL FREQS; TO GO THROUGH THE SAME ROUTINE. THIS SIT OF MORE THAN 1 FREQ BEING USED BY ATC CTLRS HAS BECOME VERY COMMON AND THESE PROBS ARE CONSISTENTLY EXPERIENCED. DOES NO ONE IN ATC APPRECIATE THE SAFETY PROB WITH THIS SIT? A CTLR SHOULD WORK ALL ACFT ON 1 FREQ FOR THE SAME REASON THAT PLTS SHOULD WORK ONLY 1 FREQ AT A TIME. NOT ONLY IS 'PARTY LINE' BENEFIT REMOVED FROM OPS ON MULTIPLE FREQS; BUT EFFICIENCY GOES DOWN DUE TO MULTIPLE REPEATS AND POSSIBILITY FOR ERROR DUE TO BLOCKED XMISSIONS OR READBACKS GOES UP. WHEN A SECTOR COMBINES WITH ANOTHER SECTOR; XFER ALL ACFT TO THE OTHER SECTOR'S FREQ! CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: RPTR ALLEGES AN INCREASE IN THIS TYPE OF MULTI-FREQ USE. THE PLT STATES THAT IT IS TO EVERYONE'S ADVANTAGE; TO THE GREATEST EXTENT PRACTICABLE; FOR ALL TO HEAR WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING; ESPECIALLY DURING WX DIVERSION SITS. THE RPTR ALLEGES THAT THE 'LOSS OF THE PARTY LINE' CAN CONTRIBUTE TO A LOSS OF SITUATIONAL AWARENESS.

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