ZDV CTLR EXPRESSED CONCERN REGARDING FACILITY'S SECTOR TRANSITION AND TRAINING PLAN.

Date: 2006-06

Synopsis

ZDV CTLR EXPRESSED CONCERN REGARDING FACILITY'S SECTOR TRANSITION AND TRAINING PLAN.

Narrative

ZDV IS ATTEMPTING TO ACCOMPLISH A TRANSITION FROM 5 TO 6 AREAS. IN ORDER TO DO THIS; A VAST AMOUNT OF TRAINING IS BEING DONE IN THE FACILITY. SECTORS; WHICH HAVE PREVIOUSLY BEEN COMMONLY COMBINED; ARE NOW ROUTINELY BEING SPLIT IN ORDER TO ACCOMPLISH TRAINING. IN ADDITION TO THIS; THE AMOUNT OF TRAINING BEING DONE PREVENTS CURRENTLY CERTIFIED CPC'S FROM WORKING POS ON ANY SORT OF A REGULAR BASIS OR DURING BUSY TFC PERIODS. IN JUNE; I WAS WORKING ZDV SECTORS 15 AND 17 RADAR POS COMBINED. THESE SECTORS WERE COMMONLY COMBINED IN THE PAST; HOWEVER; DUE TO RECENT TRAINING NECESSITIES; THIS IS NOT THE CURRENT STANDARD. WX WAS IMPACTING THE SECTORS WITH TSTMS AND DEVS. SECTOR 15 IN THE NE ARR SECTOR INTO DEN APCH AND SECTOR 7 IS THE E DEP GATE FROM DEN APCH. DURING THE TIME PERIOD; I WORKED AN ARR STREAM AND DEP PUSH AT THE SAME TIME. THE SECTOR PROVIDING THE ARR WAS TRAINING AND PROVIDED A LESS THAN OPTIMAL SEQUENCE. THIS SOMETIMES OCCURS IN A TRAINING SITUATION. ON TOP OF THIS E DEP AT DEN APCH PROVIDED A VERY TIGHT DEP STREAM DUE TO WX ISSUES AT DEN. DURING THE DEP PUSH APCH WAS NOT IN FULL COMPLIANCE WITH THE ZDV/DEN APCH LOA. I WAS NOT GIVEN 5 MI WITH CONSTANT OR INCREASING IN ALL SITUATIONS. SPDS WERE ISSUED TO ACFT AND NOT COORD BY APCH WITH CTR. APCH USED ALT INSTEAD OF LATERAL IN MANY SITUATIONS CREATING EXTRA WORKLOAD AND DATA BLOCK CONGESTION. HDGS ASSIGNED BY APCH; TO JOIN DEP RTES; CREATED MORE TFC SITUATIONS. FINALLY; LOW OVERFLT TFC XING BOTH ARR AND DEP GATES FURTHER COMPLICATED THE SITUATION. I HAVE NOT HAD ANY SORT OF OPPORTUNITY TO WORK THESE SECTORS COMBINED WITH A TFC LOAD ON THEM IN RECENT MONTHS. THIS IS DIRECTLY DUE TO THE TRAINING ON SECTORS FOR THE TRANSITION TO 6 AREAS. DURING THE TIME PERIOD INVOLVED; I WAS BEHIND THE PWR CURVE THE ENTIRE TIME. AFTER THE DEP PUSH HAD SUBSIDED; I WAS REQUIRED TO GO INTO HOLDING FOR DEN ARRIVING TFC. THIS WAS DUE TO WX AT DEN ARPT. MY INTERPHONE CTLR WAS REQUIRED BY THE SUPVR TO RECORD PERTINENT HOLDING INFO; IE; TIME ACFT ENTERED HOLD; TURNS AND LEGS; ETC. THIS WAS IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE ZDV FOP'S. THIS RESULTED IN MY INTERPHONE CTLR'S ATTN BEING DIVERTED FROM EVENTS ON THE RADAR SCOPE TO THE CLIPBOARD WITH THE INFO. THIS IS CERTAINLY NOT THE BEST WAY TO DO BUSINESS. THE INTERPHONE CTLR'S JOB IN THIS SITUATION IS TO MONITOR THE CLRNCS OF THE RADAR CTLR AND ENSURE THAT ALL ACFT RECEIVE THE PROPER HOLDING INSTRUCTIONS; PARTICULARLY ALT CLRNCS. I DID ISSUE A DSCNT CLRNC; WHICH RESULTED IN PLACING 2 ACFT IN CONFLICT. FORTUNATELY; I RECOGNIZED IT AND RESOLVED IT BEFORE THERE WAS A LOSS IN SEPARATION. THE JOB OF A RADAR ASSOCIATE CTLR IS TO WORK AS A MEMBER OF THE TEAM WITH THE RADAR CTLR. THE RECORDING OF HOLDING INFO; WHICH PROVIDES DATA ON DELAYS; PRECLUDED MY 'D' SIDE FROM FULFILLING THEIR RADAR TEAM DUTIES. I FIRMLY BELIEVE THAT THE CURRENT TRAINING SITUATION AT ZDV IS BEING POORLY HANDLED AND IS RESULTING IN A DEGRADATION OF SAFETY. MGMNT REFUSES TO ADEQUATELY STAFF AREAS IN ORDER TO ACCOMPLISH TRAINING. INSTEAD; THEY EXPECT CTLRS TO TRAIN; BE TRAINED AND; STAY CURRENT ON POS THEY HAVE ALREADY; ALL IN ONE AND EVERY SHIFT! THIS IS AT BEST; UNREALISTIC. FINALLY; THE REQUIREMENT BY MGMNT THAT CTLRS STAY CURRENT ON UP TO 12 SECTORS/24 POS IS A SERIOUS SAFETY ISSUE. THE MAIN REASON FOR THE TRANSITION TO 6 AREAS OF SPECIALIZATION IS TO REDUCE THE NUMBER OF SECTORS/POS A CPC IS REQUIRED TO BE CERTIFIED AND PROFICIENT ON. THE THOUGHT BEING; A CTLR WILL BE BETTER ABLE TO PROVIDE THE HIGHEST LEVEL OF SAFETY AND SVC WHEN EXPECTED TO MAINTAIN EXPERTISE ON A SMALLER NUMBER OF SECTORS/POS. THE CURRENT PROCESS IS IN DIRECT OPPOSITION TO THIS PREMISE. IT CAN'T BE DONE AS WE ARE NOW; AT LEAST NOT WHILE MAINTAINING THE HIGHEST SAFETY STANDARDS.

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