MEM CONTROLLER DESCRIBED AN ARRIVAL AIRCRAFT FREQUENCY PROBLEM THAT COMPLICATED A COMBINED POSITION OPERATION WHEN A FLIGHT CREW MADE REPEATED CALLS TO ESTABLISH COMMUNICATIONS.
Synopsis
MEM CONTROLLER DESCRIBED AN ARRIVAL AIRCRAFT FREQUENCY PROBLEM THAT COMPLICATED A COMBINED POSITION OPERATION WHEN A FLIGHT CREW MADE REPEATED CALLS TO ESTABLISH COMMUNICATIONS.
Narrative
I WAS WORKING BOTH E AND W ARR POS WHEN ACR X CALLED INBOUND FROM THE NW ON THE GQE3 ARR. I ASSIGNED ACR X RWY 18L AND ASKED IF THEY HAD ATIS INFO. ACR X RESPONDED THAT MY XMISSION WAS BROKEN. I ATTEMPTED TO MAKE MY INITIAL XMISSION AGAIN; AND ACR X RESPONDED AGAIN THAT MY XMISSION WAS BROKEN. I HAD 4 OTHER ARRS INBOUND FOR MEM AND 2 ACFT INBOUND FOR A SATELLITE ARPT (OLV) AND ANOTHER ACFT TRYING TO CHK IN OFF ANOTHER SATELLITE ARPT (AWM) AND A VFR OVERFLT. I WENT TO CLEAN UP SOME OF THAT TFC; BUT EACH TIME I XMITTED TO ANOTHER ACFT; ACR X RESPONDED THAT MY XMISSIONS WERE BROKEN. MY ACFT WERE SPLIT AMONG 2 DIFFERENT FREQS; SO SOME OF THE READBACKS WERE STEPPED ON; AND OTHERS WERE DIFFICULT TO HEAR BECAUSE OF ACR X. FINALLY; ACR X'S XMISSIONS CAUSED ENOUGH OF A DISTURBANCE THAT I ASKED THE SUPVR TO SPLIT THE ARRS AND GET ME SOME HELP. BY THE END OF THE BRIEFING TO THE OTHER CTLR TAKING THE OTHER ARR; ACR X HAD FIGURED OUT THAT IT WAS THEIR RADIO CAUSING THE PROB AND THEY HAD FIXED THE PROB. I UNDERSTAND THAT EQUIP PROBS WILL HAPPEN; BUT PLTS NEED TO REALIZE THAT THEY ARE LIKELY NOT THE ONLY ACFT ON A GIVEN FREQ. ACR X'S ATTEMPTS TO ESTABLISH COM WITHOUT ANY REGARD FOR OTHER ACFT MADE MY TFC SITUATION MUCH MORE DIFFICULT THAN IT NEEDED TO BE.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.