D10 CTLR EXPERIENCED OPERROR AT 4000 WHEN ISSUING A VFR ALT TO AN IFR ACFT; MISREADING THE DATA BLOCK; CITING FATIGUE AS CAUSAL FACTOR.

Narrative

I WAS WORKING MULTIPLE POS AND FREQS COMBINED ON THE SATELLITE ARPTS OF DFW TRACON. IT WAS AFTERNOON; WHICH IS NORMALLY BUSY ON A VFR DAY SUCH AS THIS. WE HAD TFC RESTRS OVER THE TOP OF DFW ARPT; WHICH REROUTED MORE TFC THAN NORMAL THROUGH MY SECTOR. I WAS WORKING 6 DIFFERENT FREQS COMBINED; WHICH ADDS TO THE FREQ CONGESTION AND WORKLOAD. WE DID NOT HAVE THE POS SPLIT OFF LIKE THEY SHOULD HAVE BEEN BECAUSE OF STAFFING. THERE WERE NUMEROUS DELAYS (IFR DEPS) BECAUSE OF WORKLOAD. SUPERVISION WAS ALSO INADEQUATE. THIS WAS MY 3RD WK IN A ROW OF MANDATORY 6 DAY WORK WKS. A COUPLE OF DAYS WERE 10 HR DAYS AND FATIGUE WAS DEFINITELY CAUSAL FACTOR. BOTH ACFT INVOLVED WERE IFR ARRS FROM THE SW. WHEN THE SECOND ACFT X CHKED IN; I MISTOOK THE 'V' IN THE CALL SIGN FOR A 'VFR DESIGNATOR.' THE VFR DESIGNATOR IS A 'V' WHICH SHOWS UP ON THE RADAR TAG; JUST BELOW THE ACFT IDENT. WHEN THE ACFT CHKED IN; I ASSIGNED HIM A VFR ALT 500 FT ABOVE THE OTHER ACFT. THE PLT ACKNOWLEDGED THE VFR ALT; BUT NEVER QUESTIONED IT. IFR SEPARATION WAS LATER LOST BECAUSE OF THE VFR ALT ASSIGNMENT. IT IS MY PERSONAL OPINION THAT IF THE POS HAD BEEN STAFFED ADEQUATELY; THIS ERROR WOULD NOT HAVE HAPPENED. WE HAD 3 ERRORS ON THIS POS WITHIN 2 DAYS. DURING ALL ERRORS THE SECTOR WAS NOT ADEQUATELY STAFFED; IN MY OPINION. I WORK AT ONE OF THE BUSIEST TERMINAL FACILITIES IN THE WORLD. OUR FACILITY IS APCHING A 50% REDUCTION IN THE NUMBER OF VETERAN FPL CTLRS THAT WE HAD JUST 2 YRS AGO. INSTEAD OF CURTAILING TFC AND SVCS TO MEET REDUCED STAFFING LEVELS; CTLRS ARE ROUTINELY FORCED TO WORK COMBINED SECTORS; 6 DAY WORK WKS WITH FEWER BREAKS AND 10 HR DAYS TO HANDLE THE WORKLOAD. MANY CTLRS WERE DENIED SUMMER VACATION WITH THEIR FAMILIES AND MORALE IS AT AN ALL TIME LOW. THE NUMBER OF ERRORS KEEP CLBING (EVEN THOUGH THE FAA RENAMED CERTAIN TYPE OF ERRORS IN AN ATTEMPT TO DISGUISE THE ACTUAL NUMBERS) BECAUSE THE FAA DECIDED TO CUT WAGES; RETIREMENT BENEFITS AND MOVING EXPENSES FOR CTLRS; OUR FACILITY IS UNABLE TO ATTRACT QUALIFIED; EXPERIENCED CTLRS. THE NEW CTLRS WE ARE GETTING HAVE LITTLE OR NO EXPERIENCE. IF THERE WAS NOT ENOUGH STRESS ALREADY FROM WORKING MORE TFC; LONGER HRS WITH LESS BREAKS; LONGER WORK WKS AND LESS VACATION TIME WITH FAMILY; WE ARE BEING FORCED TO TRAIN NEW; INEXPERIENCED CTLRS; THE FAA HAS CREATED A VERY HAZARDOUS AND DANGEROUS ENVIRONMENT. THIS IS A RECIPE FOR DISASTER.