2002-12 · NASA ASRS report 570486
I90 CTLR CONCERNED ABOUT LOA PROC APPLICATIONS DURING CERTAIN IAH AND HOU ARPT RWY CONFIGNS; AND THE POTENTIAL FOR ACFT EVENTS DUE TO ALT ASSIGNMENTS.
IAH AND HOU ATCT DEPS ARE ALL CLBED TO 4000 FT. ACFT DEPARTING IAH WITH S AND SE DESTS ARE ASSIGNED A 120 DEG HDG. ALL ACFT DEPARTING HOU TO THE N ARE ASSIGNED A 360-030 DEG HDG. THE DISTANCE BTWN THESE 2 ARPTS IS 20 MI. IAH ATCT AIRSPACE IS SURFACE TO 4000 FT AND A DIAMETER OF 8 MI AROUND THE ARPT. HOU ATCT AIRSPACE IS SURFACE TO 4000 FT WITH A DIAMETER OF 5 MI AROUND THE ARPT. MOST OF THE DEPS FROM THESE 2 ARPTS ARE JET ACFT. YOU HAVE APPROX 7 MI OF AIRSPACE WITH A CLOSURE RATE OF 500 KTS; THIS GIVES LESS THAN 1 MIN TO RECOGNIZE AND RECTIFY ANY POTENTIAL CONFLICTS. AS ALWAYS; WHEN THERE IS A CRITICAL SIT IN THIS AREA; IAH IS DEPARTING RWY 33 AND HOU IS DEPARTING RWY 30. AT APPROX XA00 ON DEC/TUE/02; AN ACR X B737 DEPARTED RWY 33 AT IAH; TURNED L TO A 120 DEG HDG AND CLBED TO 4000 FT. AT APPROX THE TIME AN ACR Y B737 DEPARTED RWY 30 AT HOU; WAS ASSIGNED A 030 DEG HDG AND CLBED TO 4000 FT. BY THE TIME BOTH ACFT MADE IT TO THEIR DEP FREQS; AN IMMINENT SIT HAD DEVELOPED. THE ACFT WERE ON INTERCEPT VECTORS AND SEPARATION WAS RAPIDLY BEING LOST. THE DEP E CPC QUICKLY TURNED THE ACR X B737 TO A 090 DEG HDG. HE WAS ONLY ABLE TO UTILIZE THIS HDG BECAUSE THERE WERE NO ARRS AT THIS TIME. CTLR Y AT THE SAME TIME TURNED THE ACR B737 TO A 270 DEG HDG. THE ACFT PASSED WITHIN MINIMUM IFR SEPARATION. THE PROCS THAT ALLOW THIS SIT TO DEVELOP ON A REGULAR BASIS WHEN IAH IS DEPARTING RWY 33 AND HOU IS DEPARTING RWY 30 IS THAT BOTH ACFT ARE ASSIGNED THE SAME ALT; 4000 FT AND ARE ASSIGNED CONVERGING HDGS. ALSO; COMPOUNDING THE SIT IS THAT THE I90/HOU LOA ALLOW HOU ATCT TO ASSIGN ANY HDG TO DEPS AS LONG AS THAT HDG DEPART HOU ATCT DEP CORRIDOR. MOST OF THE TIME HOU ATCT ASSIGNED A 030 DEG HDG TO ACFT DEPARTING RWY 30. THE ACTUAL TRACK BECAUSE OF THE STRONG N WINDS ARE 050-060 DEGS. THE AIRSPACE N OF HOU FOR N DEP IS ONLY 6 MI WIDE AND EXTENDS N. ACFT ON A 050-060 DEG TRACK ARE ON A VECTOR TO DEPART YOUR AIRSPACE AND ENTER DEP EAST'S AIRSPACE ALMOST AS SOON AS THEY ARE XFERRED TO YOUR FREQ. THERE HAVE BEEN UCR'S AND SWAT SUGGESTIONS FILED IN THE PAST OVER THIS POORLY DESIGNED AIRSPACE AND PROCS. NONE OF THE PAPERWORK FILED HAS RESULTED IN ANY CHANGES. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: RPTR STATES THAT THIS RWY CONFIGN IS RATHER INFREQUENT. THE PROB ONLY EXISTS WHEN IAH IS DEPARTING RWY 33 AND HOU DEPARTS RWY 30. THE TWRS MAY DECIDE TO HOLD ON TO ACFT UNTIL THEY HAVE THEIR SEPARATION CRITERIA; THEN XFER COM TO I90. IT IS DURING THIS ACTIVITY; WITH SEASONAL STRONG WINDS AND REDUCED TRACON CTLR REACTION TIMES; THAT THE CTLR IS SPECIFICALLY CONCERNED WITH. THE RPTR ALLEGES THAT SUPVRS TELL THE CTLRS TO 'WORK IT OUT' AND THIS IS THE WAY WE'VE ALWAYS DONE IT.
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Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.
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