Narrative:

I was on cab coordinator in the tower when the supervisor of the operation in the radar room; called me and said there was an opposite direction arrival near olene; aircraft X with medical emergency; possible heart attack inbound and he would call me back with the gate number for me to call it in. He asked how many departures we had and I said I had aircraft Y that would be departing shortly and he would be the last one. He said ok. I told the local controller what I was advised. When aircraft X was 20-25 miles north of the airport; aircraft Y was cleared for takeoff to a 310 heading climbing to 4;000 for the 45 degree reciprocal rule that had been coordinated with departure control. The TRACON flm called to see where the departure was and I said he would be tagged up in like 20 seconds and this would work and by the way what was the gate number. He said he still didn't know. At 15 mile final aircraft X has 19R in data block and aircraft Z and aircraft a both had vla for 01L in data block. We thought someone had the wrong data block and was landing the parallel runway. Aircraft Y checked on with tower and I called final to find out what runway he was given because we still weren't talking to him. Final control said I don't know; I'm not talking to him. When I un-keyed I heard local control saying aircraft Z go around. I told him to go 270 and 3000 back towards final and I'll point out to D. I obviously had looked to see if anyone was in the bridge and no one was. And to put aircraft a due east bound and ill coordinate with final. I called 'D' (west departure for the point out) and then called final to advise what both airplanes were doing since we had aircraft X on final for 19R. I then called the supervisor to tell him aircraft Z went around and he asked why? I said I didn't know; (I had been talking to final about what runway aircraft X was landing.) and was just advising what was happening. Final had a few airplanes already in her airspace plus the 2 guys we broke off final and she was still getting fed from other sectors. There was massive confusion on all sectors and nobody knew what was going on. Aircraft X is now on a 2 mile final and I realized the TRACON flm still hadn't given me the gate number. I called fire rescue and asked to send paramedics to terminal east for aircraft X landing with medical emergency; possible heart attack and we didn't know the gate number yet. TRACON flm called a minute later to see if aircraft X had cleared the runway and I said he was about to and by the way what gate number was he going to? TRACON flm said 'I forgot.' paramedics were late getting to the gate.the TRACON flm has been reported on multiple times for lack of coordination. There have been excuses made for him but things are not getting better. I think he is in over his head at this level approach control and would be better at a lower level facility. He has been here multiple years now and is a continuous problem for not communicating enough with controllers. He never takes responsibility for his actions and blames anyone he can. He is a nice guy but is over his head here at tampa. Another factor is the multiple opposite direction operation changes within the last several months. There is confusion with 7110.65 vs. District operations vs. Tpa manager implied rules on what we can and can't due. I thought since the 10 mile rule was not in effect any longer all we needed was 7110.65 separation. Supposedly the odo procedures are changing yet again in 3 weeks. This many changes is a safety issue as well.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: TPA TRACON and Tower controllers report of confusion with an opposite direction emergency arrival into the TPA airport and the lack of communication from the TPA FLM.

Narrative: I was on Cab Coordinator in the tower when the supervisor of the operation in the radar room; called me and said there was an opposite direction arrival near Olene; Aircraft X with medical emergency; possible heart attack inbound and he would call me back with the gate number for me to call it in. He asked how many departures we had and I said I had Aircraft Y that would be departing shortly and he would be the last one. He said ok. I told the local controller what I was advised. When Aircraft X was 20-25 miles north of the airport; Aircraft Y was cleared for takeoff to a 310 heading climbing to 4;000 for the 45 degree reciprocal rule that had been coordinated with departure control. The TRACON FLM called to see where the departure was and I said he would be tagged up in like 20 seconds and this would work and by the way what was the gate number. He said he still didn't know. At 15 mile final Aircraft X has 19R in data block and Aircraft Z and Aircraft A both had VLA for 01L in data block. We thought someone had the wrong data block and was landing the parallel runway. Aircraft Y checked on with tower and I called final to find out what runway he was given because we still weren't talking to him. Final control said I don't know; I'm not talking to him. When I un-keyed I heard Local control saying Aircraft Z go around. I told him to go 270 and 3000 back towards final and I'll point out to D. I obviously had looked to see if anyone was in the bridge and no one was. And to put Aircraft A due east bound and Ill coordinate with final. I called 'D' (west departure for the point out) and then called final to advise what both airplanes were doing since we had Aircraft X on final for 19R. I then called the supervisor to tell him Aircraft Z went around and he asked why? I said I didn't know; (I had been talking to final about what runway Aircraft X was landing.) and was just advising what was happening. Final had a few airplanes already in her airspace plus the 2 guys we broke off final and she was still getting fed from other sectors. There was massive confusion on all sectors and nobody knew what was going on. Aircraft X is now on a 2 mile final and I realized the TRACON FLM still hadn't given me the gate number. I called Fire Rescue and asked to send paramedics to Terminal E for Aircraft X landing with medical emergency; possible heart attack and we didn't know the gate number yet. TRACON FLM called a minute later to see if Aircraft X had cleared the runway and I said he was about to and by the way what gate number was he going to? TRACON FLM said 'I forgot.' Paramedics were late getting to the gate.The TRACON FLM has been reported on multiple times for lack of coordination. There have been excuses made for him but things are not getting better. I think he is in over his head at this level approach control and would be better at a lower level facility. He has been here multiple years now and is a continuous problem for not communicating enough with controllers. He never takes responsibility for his actions and blames anyone he can. He is a nice guy but is over his head here at Tampa. Another factor is the multiple opposite direction operation changes within the last several months. There is confusion with 7110.65 vs. district operations vs. TPA manager implied rules on what we can and can't due. I thought since the 10 mile rule was not in effect any longer all we needed was 7110.65 separation. Supposedly the ODO procedures are changing yet again in 3 weeks. This many changes is a safety issue as well.

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.