Approach Controller described a loss of separation event involving busy/complex traffic including a emergency inbound aircraft; the reporter listing distractions and changing his 'planning' as causal factors.
Synopsis
Approach Controller described a loss of separation event involving busy/complex traffic including a emergency inbound aircraft; the reporter listing distractions and changing his 'planning' as causal factors.
Narrative
I was working with weather conditions that were not allowing for visual approaches or overhead maneuvers to a military airport. I received a check on from an aircraft inbound to the military airport with an emergency and observed several more aircraft inbound at the perimeter of my airspace for the same military base. I immediately asked for an Assist Controller and one was provided. A flight of two F5's was inbound from the southwest. I received a point out from the adjacent Controller for a descent into their airspace so I descended the military flight from 16;000 to 7;000. A PA28 was on my frequency being vectored to an adjacent airport at 6;000. I climbed the PA28 to 7;000 to allow more altitudes to be used by my military aircraft. I later turned one military aircraft to a 060 heading for a north downwind to Runway 24. I did not descend to 6;000 as I had originally planned to do. Upon scanning the airspace I noticed that the F5 and the PA28 were in direct conflict with each other at 7;000 MSL and a few miles apart. I turned the F5 right to heading 140 immediately but separation was already lost. I issued a traffic alert to the PA28 and they reported traffic in sight but by that time the F5's turn allowed standard diverging separation. The Supervisor was standing next to me; I immediately told him that it was my fault and was soon relieved from the position. Recommendation; I was busy and I believe that the emergency added a little complexity to the situation but overall I believe that everything that could have been done internally was done in a timely manner. I just missed executing my initial plan when I was distracted by other traffic.
Second reporter narrative
This one was tough. This sector is notorious for getting borderline out of control due to frequency congestion; multiple airports; a mix between commercial; student; and military traffic and complex airspace. This was just one of those sessions that was borderline ridiculous. Add to that the emergency inbound; causing a runway closure; and it was setup for failure. My only suggestion would be that I would have hope the Supervisor would have disallowed some of the operations taking place long before I came in on the Assist and coordinated.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.