Narrative:

I was reporting for duty and my front line manager (flm) asked me to watch a video replay that did not have any sound of this 'incident'. I am now assuming that it is a 'wake turbulence remnants event' but that is an assumption! I was just taking over the departure 3 position and dfw tower had advised that aircraft X would be on a vector since he could not make the crossing restrictions on the SID. So I was getting a new chair and putting in my preference settings while aircraft X flew 2-3 extra miles before I turned him to ensure that he would be above satellite traffic. Aircraft Y was on the SID on the inside track. On the replay it looks like aircraft X is 5 miles nnw of aircraft Y's westbound flight and aircraft Y is at 8800 MSL while aircraft X is well out of 10;000 MSL. It seems that when aircraft X crossed the point where aircraft Y is at he was at 9800 MSL. What the heck is 'wake turbulence remnants'? Where is it defined and why is it not in the 7110.65? Trying to determine where and what it is on a radar screen in real time is like trying to determine if a plane farts who will smell it! Until controllers are giving the tools to know what wake turbulence remnants are quit wasting our time making us fill out reports. Who goes through replays and what tools do they use to determine something that is undefined? Is the reason that I'm filling out this report so that somebody can say 'there was a report filed so everything's fine and let's move on?' what does that solve?

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: D10 TRACON Controller reported a Wake Turbulence Remnant issue that Front Line Manager brought to his attention after the fact. Controller reported to work; Front Line Manager had him review a replay and was told that there was a wake remnant issue. Controller wanted to know what a wake remnant issue was since nothing was in the FAA Order 7110.65.

Narrative: I was reporting for duty and my Front Line Manager (FLM) asked me to watch a video replay that did not have any sound of this 'incident'. I am now assuming that it is a 'wake turbulence remnants event' but that is an assumption! I was just taking over the Departure 3 position and DFW Tower had advised that Aircraft X would be on a vector since he could not make the crossing restrictions on the SID. So I was getting a new chair and putting in my preference settings while Aircraft X flew 2-3 extra miles before I turned him to ensure that he would be above satellite traffic. Aircraft Y was on the SID on the inside track. On the replay it looks like Aircraft X is 5 miles NNW of Aircraft Y's westbound flight and Aircraft Y is at 8800 MSL while Aircraft X is well out of 10;000 MSL. It seems that when Aircraft X crossed the point where Aircraft Y is at he was at 9800 MSL. What the heck is 'WAKE TURBULENCE REMNANTS'? Where is it defined and why is it not in the 7110.65? Trying to determine where and what it is on a radar screen in real time is like trying to determine if a plane farts who will smell it! Until controllers are giving the tools to know what wake turbulence remnants are quit wasting our time making us fill out reports. Who goes through replays and what tools do they use to determine something that is undefined? Is the reason that I'm filling out this report so that somebody can say 'there was a report filed so everything's fine and let's move on?' What does that solve?

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.