Enroute controller described an emergency descent event when the request for an immediate descent di...

Narrative:

A B737 checked on frequency with a requested [filed] altitude of FL370; when I climbed him to FL330 he said they needed to stay at FL250 for operational reasons and company should have re-filed; which they didn't. A couple of minutes later; I thought I heard someone say they needed to descend to ten thousand feet. I asked if it was the B737; he said affirmative and I started him down to FL240 my lowest altitude. He said he needed to get to ten as soon as possible so I said on frequency that this is an emergency situation and descended him to 10;000 feet. I quick looked the sector below me and reset my altitude limits to watch out for traffic. I asked the nature of emergency and if they needed anything special and they said they would get back to me. We pointed him out to the sector below me. I got him an altimeter and had the low sector coordinate for lower altitude. They then said they needed to return to the departure airport and to get down to 8;000 feet. I cleared via left turn direct and to maintain 8;000 feet. This was the first time in an emergency situation that the pilot was too busy to tell ATC the nature of the problem. I felt that I couldn't tell others around me of what they could do to help and after asking the flight crew twice of nature of problem and being told to stand by or they'll get back to me I didn't want to cause them any more problems than they were currently dealing with. This resulted in limiting my coordination with adjacent sectors.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Enroute Controller described an emergency descent event when the request for an immediate descent did not permit time for coordination with adjacent sectors prior to entry.

Narrative: A B737 checked on frequency with a requested [filed] altitude of FL370; when I climbed him to FL330 he said they needed to stay at FL250 for operational reasons and company should have re-filed; which they didn't. A couple of minutes later; I thought I heard someone say they needed to descend to ten thousand feet. I asked if it was the B737; he said affirmative and I started him down to FL240 my lowest altitude. He said he needed to get to ten as soon as possible so I said on frequency that this is an emergency situation and descended him to 10;000 feet. I quick looked the sector below me and reset my altitude limits to watch out for traffic. I asked the nature of emergency and if they needed anything special and they said they would get back to me. We pointed him out to the sector below me. I got him an altimeter and had the low sector coordinate for lower altitude. They then said they needed to return to the departure airport and to get down to 8;000 feet. I cleared via left turn direct and to maintain 8;000 feet. This was the first time in an emergency situation that the pilot was too busy to tell ATC the nature of the problem. I felt that I couldn't tell others around me of what they could do to help and after asking the flight crew twice of nature of problem and being told to stand by or they'll get back to me I didn't want to cause them any more problems than they were currently dealing with. This resulted in limiting my coordination with adjacent sectors.

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.

Attributes
ACN	1019420
Time
Date	201206
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.ARTCC
State Reference	US
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B737-500
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Cruise
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Enroute
Qualification	Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical

Enroute controller described an emergency descent event when the request for an immediate descent did not permit time for coordination with adjacent sectors prior to entry.