Narrative:

I took over the high sector and there were four airplanes. I sat down at the beginning of the session and realized a C650 was going to clip the southwest corner of sector X within two minutes. The aircraft was roughly 10 miles from the boundary when I noticed. I checked uret to see if a point out had been accomplished. No point out. I quick looked [sector] X to see if they were watching the data block; they were not. I quickly pvd'd the data block to [sector] X and initiated a point out; they accepted. I also asked if they had received a point out or a flash through hand off before I had called. Sector X said no. There was no error or deviation; but it was unsafe that this information was not coordinated in the position relief briefing. This was a classic case of complacency and not paying attention. There were only four aircraft on the scope in a very large sector. I realize that mistakes like this can happen when you are busy. But what makes me upset is that the previous controller who made the mistake was actively engaged in a non ATC conversation with the front line manager when I offered the controller a break. They were so busy talking about non-ATC related stuff that the controller completely missed the point out; and didn't even notice when they pointed at the C560 with the cursor and told me that the aircraft was handed off; but not shipped. Every controller including myself; needs to do their job and be actively engaged with the traffic. The controller I relieved and the front line manager were not focused on ATC. Please make complacent controllers and supervisors accountable for their actions. I believe in the reporting program/s; but fear many people are complacent with air traffic because they don't fear punishment or skill enhancement or embarrassment anymore.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Enroute Controller described an unsafe condition event when a relieved controller engaged in non ATC conversations with the FLM and failed to complete required actions.

Narrative: I took over the High Sector and there were four airplanes. I sat down at the beginning of the session and realized a C650 was going to clip the southwest corner of Sector X within two minutes. The aircraft was roughly 10 miles from the boundary when I noticed. I checked URET to see if a point out had been accomplished. No point out. I quick looked [Sector] X to see if they were watching the data block; they were not. I quickly PVD'd the data block to [Sector] X and initiated a point out; they accepted. I also asked if they had received a point out or a flash through hand off before I had called. Sector X said no. There was no error or deviation; but it was unsafe that this information was not coordinated in the position relief briefing. This was a classic case of complacency and not paying attention. There were only four aircraft on the scope in a very large sector. I realize that mistakes like this can happen when you are busy. But what makes me upset is that the previous Controller who made the mistake was actively engaged in a non ATC conversation with the Front Line Manager when I offered the Controller a break. They were so busy talking about non-ATC related stuff that the Controller completely missed the point out; and didn't even notice when they pointed at the C560 with the cursor and told me that the aircraft was handed off; but not shipped. Every controller including myself; needs to do their job and be actively engaged with the traffic. The Controller I relieved and the Front Line Manager were not focused on ATC. Please make complacent controllers and supervisors accountable for their actions. I believe in the reporting program/s; but fear many people are complacent with air traffic because they don't fear punishment or skill enhancement or embarrassment anymore.

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.