U90 controller described an airspace incursion event when communications was lost with traffic inbou...

Narrative:

A pc-12 was inbound level at 12;000 [feet]. He came to my frequency and I could hear him loud and clear. I responded several times but the pilot could not hear me. It became apparent the pilot could hear some garbled transmissions from me because of the responses he gave. I passed a message through an airborne aircraft and the pilot could hear them loud and clear. I could not keep relaying through a secondary aircraft as they needed to be on another frequency and I needed my frequency back. The pc-12 decided they would just change to advisory frequency on their own and began descending and violated restricted airspace as well; all without cancelling IFR. I finally established radio contact as they drifted closer. We need a relay antenna at ols. We have a lot of IFR aircraft in and out as well as many international flights over the boarder. We can not communicate with the pilots and it is creating too many problems. Controllers should not be left helpless with such an easily fixable situation.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: U90 Controller described an airspace incursion event when communications was lost with traffic inbound from Mexico to OLS could; the reporter suggesting improved communications equipment at OLS.

Narrative: A PC-12 was inbound level at 12;000 [feet]. He came to my frequency and I could hear him loud and clear. I responded several times but the pilot could not hear me. It became apparent the pilot could hear some garbled transmissions from me because of the responses he gave. I passed a message through an airborne aircraft and the pilot could hear them loud and clear. I could not keep relaying through a secondary aircraft as they needed to be on another frequency and I needed my frequency back. The PC-12 decided they would just change to advisory frequency on their own and began descending and violated restricted airspace as well; all without cancelling IFR. I finally established radio contact as they drifted closer. We need a relay antenna at OLS. We have a lot of IFR aircraft in and out as well as many international flights over the boarder. We can not communicate with the pilots and it is creating too many problems. Controllers should not be left helpless with such an easily fixable situation.

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	1066493
Time
Date	201302
Local Time Of Day	1801-2400
Place
Locale Reference	U90.TRACON
State Reference	AZ
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	PC-12
Flight Phase	Cruise
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Departure Approach
Qualification	Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
Person 2
Function	Approach Departure
Qualification	Air Traffic Control Developmental
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types

U90 controller described an airspace incursion event when communications was lost with traffic inbound from mexico to ols could; the reporter suggesting improved communications equipment at ols.