TRACON controller described an unsafe event when the tower controller failed to issue a 'low altitud...

Narrative:

I was working nr sector when a MD11 was on final to runway 7R. There was OJT being conducted at sr. The sr controller stated that it appeared that the MD11 was below the MVA and glidepath on final for runway 7R and yelled over to the fw controller. Fw stated that the MD11 was on tower frequency. We both keyed up to local control via landline and told local control that the MD11 was too low. The local controller simply issued the altimeter setting to the MD11. The sr controller told the local controller to issue a 'low altitude alert.' the local controller still did not issue a low altitude alert. The MD11 altitude dropped to 800 ft on a 4 mile final. There are several large wind turbines near by. The MD11 was in close proximity to the ground on an instrument approach and was not issue a low altitude alert. There was no management present in either the TRACON or tower operation. It is outrageous that the tower controller failed to recognize that the MD11 was at an unsafe altitude and worse yet could not/did not issue the low altitude alert even after being prompted to do so by another sector on the land line. Remedial training for the atcs on local and performance management training program revisit alerts and controller responsibility on how/when to issue them. Mandatory assignment of flm's to the operation for specific time frames.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: TRACON Controller described an unsafe event when the Tower Controller failed to issue a 'Low Altitude Alert' even after being promted by fellow controllers.

Narrative: I was working NR sector when a MD11 was on final to Runway 7R. There was OJT being conducted at SR. The SR Controller stated that it appeared that the MD11 was below the MVA and glidepath on final for Runway 7R and yelled over to the FW Controller. FW stated that the MD11 was on Tower Frequency. We both keyed up to Local Control via landline and told Local Control that the MD11 was too low. The Local Controller simply issued the altimeter setting to the MD11. The SR Controller told the Local Controller to issue a 'low altitude alert.' The Local Controller still did not issue a low altitude alert. The MD11 altitude dropped to 800 FT on a 4 mile final. There are several large wind turbines near by. The MD11 was in close proximity to the ground on an instrument approach and was not issue a low altitude alert. There was no management present in either the TRACON or Tower operation. It is outrageous that the Tower Controller failed to recognize that the MD11 was at an unsafe altitude and worse yet could not/did not issue the low altitude alert even after being prompted to do so by another sector on the land line. Remedial Training for the ATCS on local and Performance Management Training program revisit alerts and controller responsibility on how/when to issue them. Mandatory assignment of FLM's to the operation for specific time frames.

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	1123934
Time
Date	201310
Local Time Of Day	1801-2400
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	MD-11
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Final Approach
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Approach
Qualification	Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types Inflight Event / Encounter CFTT / CFIT

TRACON controller described an unsafe event when the tower controller failed to issue a 'low altitude alert' even after being promted by fellow controllers.