Narrative:

I was controller in charge in the TRACON. Local control (local control) called west arrival (wa) and said that air carrier X had lost sight of the airport and was on a 200 heading and later landed. As controller in charge I was expecting local control to send the aircraft back to radar. After I got off position; I listened to the tapes to see what had transpired. On the tape I heard air carrier X tell local control 'we lost the field.' local control told the pilot that the airport was at 12 o'clock and 5 miles. Local control then told the pilot that the tower had the aircraft in sight 10-11 o'clock and 4 miles. The pilot reported that he still did not have airport in sight. Local control then issued a 200 heading to join the runway 18L localizer. At this point I stopped listening to the tape and went to the atm. I told the atm what I had heard but I didn't know if the pilot was below the MVA when vectored. I told the atm that I did not file an mor since I didn't know what had happened and also as a courtesy since the controller on local control was a recently local control certified flm. I left the office to return to work and did not see that data the atm had available to him. The atm indicated; 'everything was good.' atm later found me and told me that he had reviewed the data and I did not need to file a mor. I have no reason not to believe the atm. Today I was asked about the incident and became aware that the atm was in the tower at the time of the above occurrence. I was also told about other transmissions made so I went back and listened to the event in its entirety. After the 200 heading; the pilot was told to continue left turn heading 160 to join the localizer. The pilot reported airport in sight but they were a little high. Local control told air carrier X that a left 360 was approved. Local control told pilot airport 10-11 o'clock and 4 miles. Air carrier X replied; 'we'll let you know when we see it'; the aircraft was apparently still in the turn. Air carrier X reported the airport in sight and local control told air carrier X 'cleared visual approach 18L.' the reason I am filing this report is because of 3 safety concerns. The first being that the aircraft was not given instructions (heading/altitude) and returned to radar for another approach; causing me to listen to the audio recording. The second and third concerns are that prior to initiating the vector; the local control did not cancel the approach clearance and did not issue an altitude at or above the MVA to maintain until the airport was in sight. As I said above; the atm said that the aircraft was not vectored below the MVA; but safety was compromised; in my opinion by not cancelling the visual approach clearance and issuing an altitude. It was by luck; not design that the aircraft apparently stayed above the MVA the entire time. My recommendation would be refresher training for all involved.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: TRACON Controller described a procedural error by the Local Controller (LC) when the LC issued a 360 turn without consideration of the MVA; the reporter noted the subject aircraft should have been returned to the TRACON.

Narrative: I was CIC in the TRACON. Local Control (LC) called West Arrival (WA) and said that Air Carrier X had lost sight of the airport and was on a 200 heading and later landed. As CIC I was expecting LC to send the aircraft back to RADAR. After I got off position; I listened to the tapes to see what had transpired. On the tape I heard Air Carrier X tell LC 'We lost the field.' LC told the pilot that the airport was at 12 o'clock and 5 miles. LC then told the pilot that the Tower had the aircraft in sight 10-11 o'clock and 4 miles. The pilot reported that he still did not have airport in sight. LC then issued a 200 heading to join the Runway 18L localizer. At this point I stopped listening to the tape and went to the ATM. I told the ATM what I had heard but I didn't know if the pilot was below the MVA when vectored. I told the ATM that I did not file an MOR since I didn't know what had happened and also as a courtesy since the Controller on LC was a recently LC certified FLM. I left the office to return to work and did not see that data the ATM had available to him. The ATM indicated; 'Everything was good.' ATM later found me and told me that he had reviewed the data and I did not need to file a MOR. I have no reason not to believe the ATM. Today I was asked about the incident and became aware that the ATM was in the Tower at the time of the above occurrence. I was also told about other transmissions made so I went back and listened to the event in its entirety. After the 200 heading; the pilot was told to continue left turn heading 160 to join the localizer. The pilot reported airport in sight but they were a little high. LC told Air Carrier X that a left 360 was approved. LC told pilot airport 10-11 o'clock and 4 miles. Air Carrier X replied; 'We'll let you know when we see it'; the aircraft was apparently still in the turn. Air Carrier X reported the airport in sight and LC told Air Carrier X 'Cleared Visual Approach 18L.' The reason I am filing this report is because of 3 safety concerns. The first being that the aircraft was not given instructions (heading/altitude) and returned to RADAR for another approach; causing me to listen to the audio recording. The second and third concerns are that prior to initiating the vector; the LC did not cancel the approach clearance and did not issue an altitude at or above the MVA to maintain until the airport was in sight. As I said above; the ATM said that the aircraft was not vectored below the MVA; but safety was compromised; in my opinion by not cancelling the visual approach clearance and issuing an altitude. It was by luck; not design that the aircraft apparently stayed above the MVA the entire time. My recommendation would be refresher training for all involved.

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.