Pct controller voiced concern regarding the thirty degree intercept rule during visual approach proc...

Narrative:

Landing runway 15L and 15R at bwi. Numerous jet traffic on approach landing the right side on visual approaches. Had a citation excel on visual approach to the left runway with the field in sight. I turned the aircraft to a heading of 180 and cleared him for the visual approach. The aircraft widen out to the right 210 heading to join final. Tarp recorded this as a loss of separation. The new rule is a turn to intercept final no greater the thirty degrees. Once I cleared the aircraft for the visual; I was unaware that the aircraft widen out to join the final. This new thirty degree rule to intercept final for visual approaches is very labor intensive for the final controller. Especially at bwi where we only have one downwind. This only makes things more complex. Essentially you are running an ILS approach; instead of the aircraft turning a 4-5 mile base; it's now a 8-10 mile base. At bwi final you are not only working final but mtn departures and arrivals plus 3 other satellite airports. Even if the aircraft has visual with the parallel runway traffic; the thirty degree rule still applies. Bwi does not run opposite bases. We only have one downwind! I guess what I'm trying to say is the rule should be exempt at airports like bwi. I truly believe we will see more errors due to forgetting to turn 30 degrees to join final; because of the distractions of the position.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: PCT Controller voiced concern regarding the thirty degree intercept rule during Visual Approach procedures noting BWI with one downwind does not benefit from the new requirements.

Narrative: Landing Runway 15L and 15R at BWI. Numerous jet traffic on approach landing the right side on visual approaches. Had a Citation Excel on visual approach to the left runway with the field in sight. I turned the aircraft to a heading of 180 and cleared him for the visual approach. The aircraft widen out to the right 210 heading to join final. TARP recorded this as a loss of separation. The new rule is a turn to intercept final no greater the thirty degrees. Once I cleared the aircraft for the visual; I was unaware that the aircraft widen out to join the final. This new thirty degree rule to intercept final for visual approaches is very labor intensive for the Final Controller. Especially at BWI where we only have one downwind. This only makes things more complex. Essentially you are running an ILS approach; instead of the aircraft turning a 4-5 mile base; it's now a 8-10 mile base. At BWI final you are not only working final but MTN departures and arrivals plus 3 other satellite airports. Even if the aircraft has visual with the parallel runway traffic; the thirty degree rule still applies. BWI does not run opposite bases. We only have one downwind! I guess what I'm trying to say is the rule should be exempt at airports like BWI. I truly believe we will see more errors due to forgetting to turn 30 degrees to join final; because of the distractions of the position.

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	1044909
Time
Date	201210
Local Time Of Day	0001-0600
Place
Locale Reference	PCT.TRACON
State Reference	VA
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Citation Excel (C560XL)
Flight Phase	Final Approach
Route In Use	Visual Approach
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Approach Departure
Qualification	Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types

Pct controller voiced concern regarding the thirty degree intercept rule during visual approach procedures noting bwi with one downwind does not benefit from the new requirements.