ZMA CTLR RPTS INABILITY TO CONTACT HAVANA CTR IN A TIMELY MANNER.

Narrative

ON THE S SIDE OF MIAMI ARTCC IS HAVANA CTR. SW OF KEY WEST; FL; ARE TWO COORDINATION FIXES KNOWN AS CANOA INTXN ON B646 AND MAXIM INTXN ON G765. 48 MILES S OF MTH IS THE COORDINATION FIX KNOWN AS TADPO INTXN ON G448. FLT PLANS ARE VERBALLY PASSED BY CTLRS BACK AND FORTH VIA LAND LINES BETWEEN MIAMI CTR AND HAVANA CTR. MOST AIR CARRIERS AND GA FLT PLANS ARE KEPT IN A BULK STORAGE COMPUTER AS PROPOSALS AND ARE ACTIVATED BY SIMPLY ENTERING THE ACFT'S ESTIMATED TIME OVER ONE OF THE 3 COORDINATION FIXES ALONG WITH THE CURRENT ALT AND XPONDER CODE. USUALLY WHEN A CTLR CALLS ANOTHER CTLR VIA A LAND LINE; THE OTHER CTLR WILL ANSWER THE LINE IN A MATTER OF SECONDS. THIS USUALLY OCCURS IN LESS THAN 5 TO 20 SECONDS. WITH HAVANA CTR; THIS TIME VARIES FROM 5 SECONDS TO SOMETIMES MINUTES. I PERSONALLY HAVE WAITED OVER 11 MINUTES FOR A HAVANA CTR CTLR TO ANSWER THE LAND LINE. SOME DAYS ARE BETTER THAN OTHERS; BUT NO DAY CAN BE CONSIDERED NORMAL AS COMPARED TO CONTACTING ANOTHER CTLR AT A UNITED STATES CTR. THE PROB IS NOT THE LAND LINES THEMSELVES. THE SHOUT LINES WORK; YOU CAN EVEN HEAR THE HAVANA CTLRS WALKING OVER TO THE SECTOR AND PICKING UP THE HANDSET. THE PROB IS THAT THE CTLRS DO NOT CONTINUALLY MONITOR THESE SECTORS. WHEN THEY DO NOT ANSWER THE LAND LINES THEY TELL YOU THEY ARE VERY BUSY; USUALLY ACROSS THE ROOM. MANY TIMES THE WARNING AREAS NEXT TO G448 (W174C AND W465A) AND NEXT TO B646 AND G765 (W174B AND W174C) ARE ACTIVE SURFACE TO FL500. ONCE THE ACFT ARE WITHIN THESE CONFINED CORRIDORS THEY CANNOT BE TURNED AROUND SAFELY. THE CTLRS ARE FORCED TO TERMINATE RADAR SVCS AND PUT THE ACFT ON THE APPROPRIATE HAVANA CTR FREQ. OBVIOUSLY; THIS IS NOT A SAFE PRACTICE THE MIAMI CTR CTLRS ARE FORCED INTO. UNFORTUNATELY I DO NOT HAVE THE EXACT CALL SIGNS OR TIMES OF THESE TWO EVENTS THAT HAPPENED. I WAS NOT WORKING THE KEY WEST SECTOR R6/R26 AT THE TIME BUT I WAS IN THE CTL ROOM FOR ANOTHER EVENT AND RELIABLY HEARD ABOUT THE SECOND ONE THAT OCCURRED LATER. DURING THE FIRST EVENT A MIAMI CTR CTLR TRIED CALLING A HAVANA CTR CTLR VIA THE LAND LINE; TO GET THEM TO DSND ONE OF TWO ACFT TO AVOID A NMAC. WHEN THE HAVANA CTR CTLR WOULD NOT ANSWER THE LAND LINE THE RADAR CTLR TRIED USING GUARD FREQ (121.5) TO DSND THE ACFT Y FLT AND MISS THE ACFT X FLT. A HAVANA CTR CTLR FINALLY RETURNED TO THE SECTOR AND DSNDED THE ACFT Y FLT BEFORE SEPARATION WAS LOST. DURING THE SECOND EVENT A MIAMI CTR CTLR TRIED CALLING THE TADPO SECTOR TO HAND OFF A FLT. THE CTLR MADE HIS FIRST CALL AT APPROX 50 MILES BEFORE THE BOUNDARY; AND CALLED SEVERAL TIMES. THE HAVANA CTR CTLR FINALLY ANSWERED THE LAND LINE JUST BEFORE THE ACFT WAS GOING TO BE TURNED N TO AVOID GOING INTO HAVANA CTR'S AIRSPACE. THIS SECOND INCIDENT IS THE TYPE OF INCIDENT THAT IS VERY PREVALENT DURING OUR BUSY SEASON. WHY HAVANA CTR DOES NOT HAVE CTLRS CONTINUALLY MONITORING THESE SECTORS IS A MYSTERY. AS A SIDE NOTE; THE ACFT THAT FLY OVER THE TADPO INTXN MUST PAY THE CUBAN GOVERNMENT A FEE TO FLY OVER THE ISLAND. IF THE FEE IS NOT PAID THE ACFT MUST FLY AROUND THE ISLAND. SUPPOSEDLY THE FEE IS LESS THAN WHAT THE COST OF FUEL WOULD BE TO FLY AROUND THE ISLAND. EVEN THOUGH WE DO NOT HAVE A US EMBASSY IN CUBA; WE DO HAVE A SPECIAL INTEREST SECTION. WHEN MIAMI CTR AND HAVANA CTR NEGOTIATE A NEW LETTER OF AGREEMENT I BELIEVE THEY GO THROUGH THE SPECIAL INTEREST SECTION. THIS PROB HAS GONE ON FAR TOO LONG. WITH THE INCREASE IN AIR TFC; AND BEING SHORT OF CTLRS AT MIAMI CTR THIS IS AN INTERNATIONAL DISASTER WAITING TO HAPPEN.