TPA TRACON CTLR EXPRESSED CONCERN REGARDING THE APPARENT LACK OF ALERT DEVICES ON THE STARS SYS INDICATING RADAR BEACON FAILURES.
Synopsis
TPA TRACON CTLR EXPRESSED CONCERN REGARDING THE APPARENT LACK OF ALERT DEVICES ON THE STARS SYS INDICATING RADAR BEACON FAILURES.
Narrative
I WAS WORKING AT TAMPA'S S SATELLITE SECTOR. I NOTICED WHEN I CAME ON DUTY AT XA00 THAT A SYS FAILURE WAS NOTED ON THE STARS SYS AREA INDICATING THAT SRQ RADAR HAS A 'PROB.' THE FRONT LINE MGRS HAVE NOTED IN THE PAST THAT THE SRQ INDICATED IN 'RED' IN THE SYS AREA MEANS THAT SOMETHING IS 'WRONG' WITH THE SRQ RADAR. I HAVE BEEN TOLD THAT IF THE SYS ALERT IS SERIOUS THAT THE FRONT LINE MGRS WOULD ADVISE THE CTLR WORKING THAT SECTOR. SO WE ALL IGNORE THE RED ALERT IN THE SYS AREA. THE WX TODAY WAS IFR AT SRQ. THE XI00Z RPTED WX FOR SRQ WAS 18006 1 3/4 RA BROKEN 003 BROKEN 013 OVCST 018. AT APPROX XI42Z; WHILE VECTORING 2 ACFT TO THE ILS TO RWY 14; I NOTICED SOMETHING ODD. AFTER CHKING MY STARS DISPLAY; I REALIZED THAT I HAD NO RADAR OR BEACON RETURNS ON MY DISPLAY. MY ACFT WERE BEING TRACKED DIGITALLY. I IMMEDIATELY CALLED THE ON DUTY FRONT LINE MGR AND ASKED HIM IF THE 'RED' SRQ DISPLAYED ON MY SYS AREA MEANT ANYTHING SIGNIFICANT TODAY. HE STATED 'NO' HE WAS NOT SHOWING ANYTHING UNUSUAL ABOUT THE SRQ RADAR SYS. I THEN INFORMED HIM THAT I HAD NO RADAR OR BEACON ON MY DISPLAY FROM THE SRQ RADAR. THE FRONT LINE MGR CAME OVER TO MY DISPLAY AND HE WATCHED AS I SWITCHED BACK AND FORTH FROM THE SRQ RADAR TO THE TPA RADAR. TPA RADAR DISPLAYED PERFECTLY. SRQ RADAR AND BEACON WERE OTS. A RADAR TECHNICIAN ALSO CAME BY AND OBSERVED THE OUTAGE. AFTER ABOUT 15 MINS THE RADAR AND BEACON RETURNED. SHOULD THERE BE AN ALARM OR SOME SORT OF NOTIFICATION TO THE CTLR AT THE SECTOR OR TO THE FRONT LINE MGR THAT A RADAR AND BEACON FAILED? I NEED TO KNOW THESE THINGS AS A CTLR IMMEDIATELY. NOT TO OBSERVE 'SOMETHING ODD' ABOUT MY DISPLAY AND HAVE TO DECIPHER THE PROB. THIS IS A SERIOUS SAFETY ISSUE.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.