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Controller reports of unmanned weather balloons that have a tracking system with altitude reply that is incorrect. This causes problems with aircraft in the NAS by not knowing exactly where the balloons are.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1177084 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201406 |
| Local Time Of Day | 0001-0600 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ZZZ.ARTCC |
| State Reference | US |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | Large Transport |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | Cruise |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Aircraft 2 | |
| Make Model Name | Balloon |
| Flight Phase | Descent |
| Route In Use | None |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Other / Unknown |
| Qualification | Air Traffic Control Fully Certified |
| Experience | Air Traffic Control Time Certified In Pos 1 (yrs) 5 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | ATC Issue All Types Conflict Airborne Conflict Deviation - Altitude Excursion From Assigned Altitude Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy |
Narrative:
A company has been launching unmanned weather balloons from an airport for several months. They are launched 3 to 5 at a time and climb slowly (approximately 3 hundred FPM) to an altitude above FL600; remain at altitude for a while; and then descend. They are equipped with transponders and are 'tracked' by the flm via a website that is not accurate. The specific incident that occurred today was mode C not showing on one of the tracked balloon targets and an aircraft was passing about 1/2 mile from the balloon target. I informed the aircraft X about the balloon and asked him if he wanted a vector he said yes and confirmed it passed about 4 miles off his left about 5;000 feet above them. According to the company website the flm was monitoring; the balloon was at approximately 70;000 feet; which was completely incorrect. Without the vector and some distrust of information being told to me; this could have been very close to a near midair collision. This is not an isolated incident and has occurred several times before. It's hard to say what would make this safer to the flying public other than set up a tfr around this operation.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: Controller reports of unmanned weather balloons that have a tracking system with altitude reply that is incorrect. This causes problems with aircraft in the NAS by not knowing exactly where the balloons are.
Narrative: A company has been launching unmanned weather balloons from an airport for several months. They are launched 3 to 5 at a time and climb slowly (approximately 3 hundred FPM) to an altitude above FL600; remain at altitude for a while; and then descend. They are equipped with transponders and are 'tracked' by the FLM via a website that is not accurate. The specific incident that occurred today was Mode C not showing on one of the tracked balloon targets and an aircraft was passing about 1/2 mile from the balloon target. I informed the Aircraft X about the balloon and asked him if he wanted a vector he said yes and confirmed it passed about 4 miles off his left about 5;000 feet above them. According to the Company website the FLM was monitoring; the balloon was at approximately 70;000 feet; which was completely incorrect. Without the vector and some distrust of information being told to me; this could have been very close to a NMAC. This is not an isolated incident and has occurred several times before. It's hard to say what would make this safer to the flying public other than set up a TFR around this operation.
Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site 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.