Narrative:

The class C was open on runways 18L/right. Right before the event; I was relieving the controller on west radar. During the oral briefing; a neighboring class D called for an IFR release off of runway 35. The controller I was relieving put what he thought was the right strip in front of him and said the aircraft was released climbing to 4;000 ft MSL. I assumed the position and watched for the target to come off of the class D. After I observed a target departing from the class D; local called to apreq a downwind departure on a helicopter IFR. I said it was approved. Right after the class D tower called for a release on a C550; who we; I and the associate controller; thought had already been released since that was the strip with 4;000 written on it in front of me. The associate controller said he already had a release climbing to 4;000. At that time we realized the other aircraft that departed the class D first was on the wrong code and had not tagged up yet. The class D tower called back and said it was a PA28 on the wrong code. I found the strip for the PA28 and when the pilot finally contacted me about 5 miles north of the class D airport and I had him squawk the right code to identify him. The helicopter then came off runway 18L heading 030 degrees climbing to 5;000 ft. Then the C550 came off of the class D heading 350 degrees climbing to 4;000 ft. I immediately turned the helicopter to a 360 degree heading to turn him away from the C550 and turned the C550 to a 090 degree heading after I radar identified him. Separation was lost at about 2.5 miles and 400 ft. When the class D tower calls for a release; make sure the correct strip is in front of the radar controller.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: TRACON Controller working RADAR Associate position described a loss of separation event when the wrong IFR departure strip was placed in front of the RADAR Controller leading to confusion and the subsequent separation error.

Narrative: The Class C was open on Runways 18L/R. Right before the event; I was relieving the controller on West RADAR. During the oral briefing; a neighboring Class D called for an IFR release off of Runway 35. The Controller I was relieving put what he thought was the right strip in front of him and said the aircraft was released climbing to 4;000 FT MSL. I assumed the position and watched for the target to come off of the Class D. After I observed a target departing from the Class D; Local called to APREQ a downwind departure on a helicopter IFR. I said it was approved. Right after the Class D Tower called for a release on a C550; who we; I and the Associate Controller; thought had already been released since that was the strip with 4;000 written on it in front of me. The Associate Controller said he already had a release climbing to 4;000. At that time we realized the other aircraft that departed the Class D first was on the wrong code and had not tagged up yet. The Class D Tower called back and said it was a PA28 on the wrong code. I found the strip for the PA28 and when the pilot finally contacted me about 5 miles north of the Class D airport and I had him squawk the right code to identify him. The helicopter then came off Runway 18L heading 030 degrees climbing to 5;000 FT. Then the C550 came off of the Class D heading 350 degrees climbing to 4;000 FT. I immediately turned the helicopter to a 360 degree heading to turn him away from the C550 and turned the C550 to a 090 degree heading after I RADAR identified him. Separation was lost at about 2.5 miles and 400 FT. When the Class D Tower calls for a release; make sure the correct strip is in front of the RADAR Controller.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.