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Controllers reported a situation where aircraft could not land at their destination due to the unavailability of parking space. Contributing to the problem was poor communication signal.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1287350 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201508 |
| Local Time Of Day | 1201-1800 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ZOA.ARTCC |
| State Reference | CA |
| Environment | |
| Light | Daylight |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | Medium Large Transport Low Wing 2 Turbojet Eng |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | Parked |
| Route In Use | Oceanic |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Aircraft 2 | |
| Make Model Name | Large Transport Low Wing 2 Turbojet Eng |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 129 |
| Flight Phase | Initial Approach |
| Route In Use | Oceanic |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Instructor Oceanic |
| Qualification | Air Traffic Control Fully Certified |
| Experience | Air Traffic Control Time Certified In Pos 1 (yrs) 2.25 |
| Person 2 | |
| Function | Trainee Oceanic |
| Qualification | Air Traffic Control Developmental |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | ATC Issue All Types Deviation - Procedural Clearance Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Inflight Event / Encounter Fuel Issue |
Narrative:
We had 5 aircraft landing [airport]. There were a couple of ties which caused some aircraft to hold for approximately 10 minutes without any incident. The controller that took over for us was informed there was not enough space at [airport] to accommodate aircraft Y. The 5th arrival; aircraft Y; began to hold and gave him a new ETA without clearance. When we took the sector back the relieving controller informed us that aircraft Y had a fuel exhaustion time of approximately XB40 and that he attempted to issue clearance to aircraft X to free up a spot on the [airport] for the arrival however due to solar flares and satellite phone issues did not get a read back. I immediately took over the sector and called [airport] flight service and was able to issue the clearance to free up space for aircraft Y. As soon as aircraft X departed I got DME reports from both aircraft indicating they were separated and clearances could be issued for further descent for the aircraft Y and further climb could be issued to aircraft X. Both clearances also probed green in atop. After we issued descent clearance to aircraft Y; we received an arrival message for the aircraft with the clearance never acknowledged. As far as I know; no one from our area has ever been to [airport]. I would never have known that there was not enough room to have 5 aircraft on the ground at the same time. We need some sort of system in place to have someone from the airport call and inform us when they are unable to accept any more arrivals instead of letting pilots decide to hold on their own with no clearance and not advising ATC. If we had the proper notice that aircraft Y would not be able to land until aircraft X departed we would have been able to hold aircraft Y at a higher altitude and save fuel to allow the flight to land with all proper clearances.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: Controllers reported a situation where aircraft could not land at their destination due to the unavailability of parking space. Contributing to the problem was poor communication signal.
Narrative: We had 5 aircraft landing [airport]. There were a couple of ties which caused some aircraft to hold for approximately 10 minutes without any incident. The controller that took over for us was informed there was not enough space at [airport] to accommodate Aircraft Y. The 5th arrival; Aircraft Y; began to hold and gave him a new ETA without clearance. When we took the sector back the relieving controller informed us that Aircraft Y had a fuel exhaustion time of approximately XB40 and that he attempted to issue clearance to Aircraft X to free up a spot on the [airport] for the arrival however due to solar flares and satellite phone issues did not get a read back. I immediately took over the sector and called [airport] Flight Service and was able to issue the clearance to free up space for Aircraft Y. As soon as Aircraft X departed I got DME reports from both aircraft indicating they were separated and clearances could be issued for further descent for the Aircraft Y and further climb could be issued to Aircraft X. Both clearances also probed green in ATOP. After we issued descent clearance to Aircraft Y; we received an arrival message for the aircraft with the clearance never acknowledged. As far as I know; no one from our area has ever been to [airport]. I would never have known that there was not enough room to have 5 aircraft on the ground at the same time. We need some sort of system in place to have someone from the airport call and inform us when they are unable to accept any more arrivals instead of letting pilots decide to hold on their own with no clearance and not advising ATC. If we had the proper notice that Aircraft Y would not be able to land until Aircraft X departed we would have been able to hold Aircraft Y at a higher altitude and save fuel to allow the flight to land with all proper clearances.
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.