Hcf approach controller reports that a tower departed an aircraft while she had an aircraft inbound ...

Narrative:

I had just taken over R3; and the controller who I relieved apologized for 'what was about to happen.' I knew immediately; that I'd be writing a report; as soon as I heard that; and I'm correct. This is rimpac. There are numerous military aircraft all over; and I was given a briefing that ngf approach would be open 24/7. This is never the case. Maybe they are a VFR tower only 24/7; but they are never an approach 24/7. Ngf approach needs to be open during rimpac. Of course; ngf approach was closed. That is a problem all by itself. Ngf approach needs to be open. I had four aircraft inbound to ngf; and ngf is only a VFR tower. Based on our rules at ATC; we can only allow one-in and one-out of ngf. An aircraft must report arrival or cancellation before we can clear in another aircraft; or release a different aircraft. Those are the rules. That's all we can do. But; ngf tower released aircraft X head on into my aircraft Y. They are both IFR. I do not believe I lost separation. My d-side said she did not give ngf tower permission to release aircraft X; but ngf tower released aircraft X. Thankfully; a disaster was averted. Luckily; there was not a mid-air. There could have been because this was the ultimate worst case scenario. Ngf tower releasing an IFR aircraft head-on into my arrival on a visual approach. I asked the supervisor to find out what happened. This is ridiculous. Ngf approach needs to be open during rimpac. I told every aircraft inbound and outbound from ngf that they need to call ngf and complain about this situation. I told them that when I complain nothing gets accomplished; but maybe if they complained; something would happen. We need to open ngf approach. Please do something. Please make rimpac safer. Please just do what we were told in the briefing; that ngf approach will be open 24/7 during rimpac.ngf approach needs to be open during rimpac. Yes; you have my permission to share this and any other report I write.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: HCF Approach Controller reports that a Tower departed an aircraft while she had an aircraft inbound to the airport. This is a one in one out situation and the departing aircraft was not released by the Arrival Controller causing a procedural deviation.

Narrative: I had just taken over R3; and the Controller who I relieved apologized for 'what was about to happen.' I knew immediately; that I'd be writing a report; as soon as I heard that; and I'm correct. This is RIMPAC. There are numerous military aircraft all over; and I was given a briefing that NGF Approach would be open 24/7. This is NEVER the case. Maybe they are a VFR Tower only 24/7; but they are NEVER an Approach 24/7. NGF Approach NEEDS TO BE OPEN DURING RIMPAC. Of course; NGF Approach was closed. That is a problem all by itself. NGF Approach needs to be open. I had four aircraft inbound to NGF; and NGF is only a VFR Tower. Based on our rules at ATC; we can only allow one-in and one-out of NGF. An aircraft must report arrival or cancellation before we can clear in another aircraft; or release a different aircraft. Those are the rules. That's all we can do. But; NGF Tower released Aircraft X head on into my Aircraft Y. They are both IFR. I do not believe I lost separation. My D-Side said she did not give NGF Tower permission to release Aircraft X; but NGF Tower released Aircraft X. Thankfully; a disaster was averted. Luckily; there was not a mid-air. There could have been because this was the ultimate worst case scenario. NGF Tower releasing an IFR aircraft head-on into my arrival on a visual approach. I asked the supervisor to find out what happened. This is ridiculous. NGF Approach NEEDS TO BE OPEN DURING RIMPAC. I told every aircraft inbound and outbound from NGF that they need to call NGF and complain about this situation. I told them that when I complain nothing gets accomplished; but maybe if they complained; something would happen. We need to open NGF Approach. Please do something. Please make RIMPAC safer. Please just do what we were told in the briefing; that NGF Approach will be open 24/7 during RIMPAC.NGF Approach NEEDS TO BE OPEN DURING RIMPAC. Yes; you have my permission to share this and any other report I write.

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.

Attributes
ACN	1186662
Time
Date	201407
Local Time Of Day	0001-0600
Place
Locale Reference	HCF.TRACON
State Reference	HI
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Military Transport
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Initial Climb
Route In Use	Visual Approach
Flight Plan	IFR
Aircraft 2
Make Model Name	Military
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Final Approach
Route In Use	Visual Approach
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Approach
Qualification	Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
Experience	Air Traffic Control Time Certified In Pos 1 (yrs) 15
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types Airspace Violation All Types Conflict Airborne Conflict Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy

Hcf approach controller reports that a tower departed an aircraft while she had an aircraft inbound to the airport. This is a one in one out situation and the departing aircraft was not released by the arrival controller causing a procedural deviation.