ZAU CTLR DESCRIBES BUSY COMPLEX WORK ENVIRONMENT DURING HOLDING PROCS FOR ORD WITH INEXPERIENCED SUPVR ON DUTY.

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I WAS ASSIGNED AIR TFC DUTIES AT THE FARMM SECTOR WHICH PRIMARILY HANDLES COMMERCIAL AIR TFC INBOUND TO ORD ARPT AS WELL AS TFC INTO ROCKFORD; IL; AND MILWAUKEE; WI. THE NORMAL FLOW OF THESE O'HARE ARRS WOULD TAKE THEM OVER JANESVILLE; WI (ON THE IL/WI BORDER) AND INTO CHICAGO FROM THE NW. HOWEVER; ON THIS PARTICULAR EVENING; SEVERE WX HAD IMPACTED THE OP SUCH THAT MUCH OF NW ILLINOIS AND SOUTHERN WISCONSIN WERE IMBEDDED WITH TSTMS. DUE TO THE WX; I WAS FORCED TO HOLD A LARGE NUMBER OF ACFT INBOUND TO O'HARE. THIS NORMALLY WOULD NOT BE DIFFICULT; BUT ON THIS SHIFT; SEVERAL FACTORS CREATED AN UNSAFE AND ULTIMATELY INJURIOUS ENVIRONMENT. FIRST; THE SUPVR IN CHARGE OF THE SHIFT WAS NEW (I BELIEVE IT WAS ONLY HIS SECOND NIGHT ON THE JOB. THIS WOULD NOT BE ALTOGETHER SIGNIFICANT IF THE SUPVR IN QUESTION WERE RIGHTLY TRAINED TO HANDLE OPS BEING IMPACTED BY SEVERE WX. THIS PERSON WAS NOT TRAINED APPROPRIATELY. FURTHER; NOT ONLY WAS HE ILL-EQUIPPED TO HANDLE THE MESS CAUSED BY A LARGE NUMBER OF ACFT BEING ROUTED THROUGH AREAS WHERE THEY ARE NOT NORMALLY ALLOWED; HE WAS UNABLE TO LEAD THE CTLRS HE WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR IN A SAFE PLAN OF ACTION TO FUNCTION EFFECTIVELY AS A TEAM (A CRUCIAL PART OF AIR TFC CTLING IS EVERY PART AND PERSON OF THE OP BEING 'ON THE SAME PAGE'). SECONDLY; DUE TO THE FACT I WAS FACED WITH THE KNOWLEDGE OF BEING ON MY OWN WITH NO SUPPORT FROM MY SUPVR; I WAS FORCED TO TRY TO IMPLEMENT MY OWN PLAN FOR HOLDING THE ACFT SOMEWHERE. AGAIN; IN MY YRS AS A CTLR; HOLDING ACFT IS SOMEWHAT ROUTINE: ESPECIALLY CONSIDERING HOW OFTEN ORD ARPT IS OVERLOADED WITH ARR ACFT. HOWEVER; ON THIS NIGHT; CONSTANTLY CHANGING WX PATTERNS AND POP-UP TSTMS CREATED A SIT WHERE MY OPTIONS WERE FEW AND RAPIDLY DIMINISHING. I DID THE BEST I COULD TO PROVIDE A SAFE ENVIRONMENT (FREE OF OTHER AIR TFC) FOR THE ACFT UNDER MY CTL TO HOLD. I WAS FORCED TO CHANGE MY PLAN SEVERAL TIMES IN ONLY A FEW MINS. ISSUING HOLDING INSTRUCTIONS TO ACFT IS TIME CONSUMING DUE TO THE AMOUNT OF INFO INVOLVED. HAVING TO ISSUE SEVERAL DIFFERENT SETS OF INSTRUCTIONS AT CHANGING GEOGRAPHIC LOCATIONS TO THE ACFT I WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR CREATED MUCH CONFUSION AND DISORDER ON THE RADIO FREQ I WAS UTILIZING. BUT; CONFUSION SEEMED TO BE THE ORDER OF THE DAY ON THIS PARTICULAR SHIFT. THIRDLY; HAVING ISSUED HOLDING INSTRUCTIONS TO THESE ACFT; I NOTICED AN ACFT HEADED STRAIGHT FOR THE HOLDING PATTERN AIRSPACE AT THE SAME ALT AS ANOTHER ACFT THAT WAS UNDER MY CTL. THIS WAS TROUBLING AND POTENTIALLY DISASTROUS. I WAS UNABLE TO COM VERBALLY WITH THIS PLANE (I ASSUME ANOTHER CTLR WAS COMMUNICATING WITH IT ON A DIFFERENT FREQ). NEXT; WHEN MY ASSISTANT CTLR TRIED TO CALL THE PERSON WORKING THE ADJACENT AIRSPACE TO OURS TO ISSUE CTL INSTRUCTIONS AND ALERT THAT CTLR TO THE FACT THAT WE HAD 2 PLANES HEAD-ON AT THE SAME ALT; ALL I COULD HEAR WAS YELLING. I DON'T KNOW IF MY ASSISTANT EVER GOT THROUGH TO THIS OTHER CTLR WHO SHOULD HAVE MADE PRIOR COORD WITH US BEFORE HIS ACFT ENTERED OUR AIRSPACE; BUT THE OTHER CTLR DIDN'T MAKE THAT COORD. IN RETROSPECT; I DON'T REMEMBER HOW WE GOT OUT OF THIS SIT. I MIGHT HAVE CHANGED THE ALT OF THE ACFT I WAS COMMUNICATING WITH; OR I MIGHT HAVE POSSIBLY TURNED HIM OUT OF THE WAY. (IT'S SCARY TO ME THAT I DON'T REMEMBER.) FORTUNATELY; SOMEHOW I WAS ABLE TO MANAGE THE SIT WITHOUT LOSS OF PAX LIFE OR 'OPERROR.' WHEN I STEPPED AWAY FROM THE SECTOR AFTER BEING RELIEVED; I LOOKED AT THE SCREEN AND THOUGHT; 'I DON'T KNOW HOW NOBODY GOT KILLED.'