Narrative:

I was working R3/7 combined on the mid shift when aircraft X departed hnl without prior coordination from hnl tower. This aircraft was assigned FL330. Aircraft Y departed koa after receiving a clearance from honolulu center with an assigned altitude of FL330. Both of these aircraft were cleared via the same initial routing of apack R463 aunti. Aircraft X routing then diverged at aunti via A332 helop ... To cyvr. Aircraft Y routing continued on R463 to alcoa to ksfo. The time between these 2 aircraft was 12 minutes with the faster aircraft (aircraft X M079) in front of the slower aircraft (aircraft Y M078). This situation has happened 100's of times over the years with no problems. However; in this instance; the ZOA controller refused to accept aircraft Y at FL330 'because these aircraft are crossing and we need 15 minutes'. This is not a true statement. These aircraft were on same and constantly diverging routes where 10 minutes is the minimum separation standard. ZOA wouldn't accept this aircraft unless it was issued an iadof altitude of FL320. To make this situation worse was the fact that moderate turbulence was being reported below FL330.this is absolutely unacceptable for a controller to not know what the separation standard is between 2 IFR aircraft they have separation responsibility for. If the equipment (atops) that ZOA uses doesn't recognize what separation needs to be applied the controller needs to have the ability to override this. Hcf needs to have atops installed to ensure a smoother transition from radar separation to oceanic non-radar separation since ZOA doesn't have the ability to override what the atops is erroneously telling the controller.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: HCF Controller describes a situation where ZOA Oceanic wouldn't accept an aircraft at an altitude because the ZOA controller thought they needed 15 minutes of separation. They only need 10 minutes of separation according to the HCF Controller.

Narrative: I was working R3/7 combined on the mid shift when Aircraft X departed HNL without prior coordination from HNL tower. This aircraft was assigned FL330. Aircraft Y departed KOA after receiving a clearance from Honolulu Center with an assigned altitude of FL330. Both of these aircraft were cleared via the same initial routing of APACK R463 AUNTI. Aircraft X routing then diverged at AUNTI via A332 HELOP ... to CYVR. Aircraft Y routing continued on R463 to ALCOA to KSFO. The time between these 2 aircraft was 12 minutes with the faster aircraft (Aircraft X M079) in front of the slower aircraft (Aircraft Y M078). This situation has happened 100's of times over the years with no problems. However; in this instance; the ZOA controller refused to accept Aircraft Y at FL330 'Because these aircraft are crossing and we need 15 minutes'. This is not a true statement. These aircraft were on same and constantly diverging routes where 10 minutes is the minimum separation standard. ZOA wouldn't accept this aircraft unless it was issued an IADOF altitude of FL320. To make this situation worse was the fact that moderate turbulence was being reported below FL330.This is absolutely unacceptable for a controller to not know what the separation standard is between 2 IFR aircraft they have separation responsibility for. If the equipment (ATOPS) that ZOA uses doesn't recognize what separation needs to be applied the controller needs to have the ability to override this. HCF needs to have ATOPS installed to ensure a smoother transition from RADAR separation to OCEANIC Non-radar separation since ZOA doesn't have the ability to override what the ATOPS is erroneously telling the controller.

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.