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An aircraft departed an airport that was in IFR weather. The aircraft notified tower they had an open door; declared an emergency and needed to return to land. Due to the airport being IFR; TRACON assigned a heading and altitude and requested communication with the aircraft for re-sequencing. There was an arriving aircraft on a 7-10 mile final. The emergency aircraft refused the TRACON instructions and advised tower they needed to land immediately. The tower controller could not establish communication with the TRACON controller so they turned the arrival to a heading and assigned an altitude to maintain.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1317658 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201512 |
| Local Time Of Day | 1201-1800 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ZZZ.Airport |
| State Reference | US |
| Environment | |
| Flight Conditions | IMC |
| Light | Daylight |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | Small Aircraft |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 91 |
| Flight Phase | Initial Climb |
| Route In Use | None |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Aircraft 2 | |
| Make Model Name | Light Transport |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 91 |
| Flight Phase | Final Approach |
| Route In Use | Other Instrument Approach |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Local |
| Qualification | Air Traffic Control Fully Certified |
| Experience | Air Traffic Control Time Certified In Pos 1 (yrs) 2.2 |
| Person 2 | |
| Function | Local |
| Qualification | Air Traffic Control Fully Certified |
| Experience | Air Traffic Control Time Certified In Pos 1 (yrs) 16.0 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | ATC Issue All Types Conflict Airborne Conflict Deviation - Procedural Clearance Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy |
Narrative:
I was working local control and launched aircraft X. I was getting relieved from local control and finishing the briefing when aircraft X said they needed to come back to land because their door was open. The new local controller said turn left join the left downwind. I reminded the local control that the field was IFR and the last base report we had was OVC008. His response was 'I have to do something with him'. He called to coordinate with TRACON asking them to keep his flight plan open and that he needs to come back to land. The local control then decided to launch an aircraft that was holding short for immediate take off. TRACON calls back and says they want to talk to aircraft X and to put him on a heading of 360. Aircraft X says he can't change frequencies and that he needs to land. I told the local controller that the aircraft X looked like he was extending waiting for instructions. Aircraft Y was on final for the runway. Local control and TRACON decided to send aircraft Y around but now you could barely see aircraft X as they were turning downwind to base low beneath the cloud layer. The aircraft Y was at 1000 feet but not in sight. They looked very close on the radar but I only ever had aircraft X in sight. The local controller seemed annoyed that I was trying to help. I would coordinated with TRACON immediately and let them know we had an emergency and to take aircraft Y off the final and sequence. I would not have launched the aircraft Z because it created a lot of confusion. TRACON and the pilots were both calling at the same time so the local control couldn't hear what was being said and had to go back to both parties to repeat.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: An aircraft departed an airport that was in IFR weather. The aircraft notified tower they had an open door; declared an emergency and needed to return to land. Due to the airport being IFR; TRACON assigned a heading and altitude and requested communication with the aircraft for re-sequencing. There was an arriving aircraft on a 7-10 mile final. The emergency aircraft refused the TRACON instructions and advised tower they needed to land immediately. The tower controller could not establish communication with the TRACON controller so they turned the arrival to a heading and assigned an altitude to maintain.
Narrative: I was working Local Control and launched Aircraft X. I was getting relieved from Local Control and finishing the briefing when Aircraft X said they needed to come back to land because their door was open. The new Local Controller said turn left join the left downwind. I reminded the Local Control that the field was IFR and the last base report we had was OVC008. His response was 'I have to do something with him'. He called to coordinate with TRACON asking them to keep his flight plan open and that he needs to come back to land. The Local Control then decided to launch an aircraft that was holding short for immediate take off. TRACON calls back and says they want to talk to Aircraft X and to put him on a heading of 360. Aircraft X says he can't change frequencies and that he needs to land. I told the Local Controller that the Aircraft X looked like he was extending waiting for instructions. Aircraft Y was on final for the runway. Local Control and TRACON decided to send Aircraft Y around but now you could barely see Aircraft X as they were turning downwind to base low beneath the cloud layer. The Aircraft Y was at 1000 feet but not in sight. They looked very close on the radar but I only ever had Aircraft X in sight. The Local Controller seemed annoyed that I was trying to help. I would coordinated with TRACON immediately and let them know we had an emergency and to take Aircraft Y off the final and sequence. I would not have launched the Aircraft Z because it created a lot of confusion. TRACON and the pilots were both calling at the same time so the Local Control couldn't hear what was being said and had to go back to both parties to repeat.
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.