MEM TWR CTLR EXPRESSED CONCERN REGARDING THE EXTENDED FAILURE OF THE BACK-UP BYPASS JACK FOR RADIO COM.
Synopsis
MEM TWR CTLR EXPRESSED CONCERN REGARDING THE EXTENDED FAILURE OF THE BACK-UP BYPASS JACK FOR RADIO COM.
Narrative
I WAS ASSIGNED THE LCL CTL #2 POS AT THE START OF MY SHIFT. MEMPHIS WAS IN A N CONFIGN; LNDG RWY 36C; RWY 36L AND RWY 36R. RWY 27 WAS RELEASED TO GND CTL FOR TAXI AND XING PURPOSES. AFTER RECEIVING A POS RELIEF BRIEFING; I STARTED TO SET-UP AND CHK ALL OF THE EQUIP ASSOCIATED WITH MY POS. PART OF MY ROUTINE IS TO CHK ALL RADIOS AND FREQS ASSIGNED TO MY POS. I SELECTED AND TESTED THE MAIN AND STANDBY XMITTERS AND RECEIVERS; SELECTED AND TESTED THE PORTABLE BATTERY OPERATED TRANSCEIVER; THEN SELECTED AND TESTED THE ORANGE BYPASS JACK IN THE EVENT OF A TOTAL ETVS FAILURE. I WAS INSTRUCTED THAT IN THE EVENT OF AN ETVS FAILURE; ALL THAT I NEEDED TO DO WAS UNPLUG FROM THE MAIN HEADSET JACK; AND THEN PLUG INTO THE ORANGE BYPASS JACK AT MY CTL POS. AFTER ATTEMPTING SEVERAL UNSUCCESSFUL RADIO CHKS WITH DIFFERENT ACFT WHILE UTILIZING THE ORANGE BYPASS JACK; I INFORMED THE TWR SUPVR THAT THIS PIECE OF EQUIP WAS OTS. THIS PIECE OF EQUIP HAS BEEN OTS FOR OVER 4 WKS. DURING THIS TIMEFRAME; I TESTED THE ORANGE BYPASS JACK EACH AND EVERY DAY THAT I WORKED AT THE LCL CTL #2 POS. THE ORANGE BYPASS JACK HAS BEEN OTS EACH TIME THAT I TESTED IT. ADDITIONALLY; I NOTIFIED A MEMBER MEM MGMNT ABOUT THIS OUTAGE. THE ORANGE BYPASS JACKS ARE IMPORTANT SAFETY/BACKUP COMPONENTS TO OUR COMS SYS AT THE TWR AND TRACON. ATC CTLRS NEED TO KNOW THAT OUR BACKUP EQUIP WILL WORK IN THE EVENT OF AN EMER; AND WE NEED TO KNOW THAT FAA MGMNT WILL DO WHATEVER IT TAKES TO REPAIR FAULTY OR BROKEN EQUIP.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.