Pvd TRACON controller reported taking radar on a VFR aircraft; but was unable to initially contact h...

Attributes
ACN	1358818
Time
Date	201605
Local Time Of Day	1801-2400
Place
Locale Reference	PVD.TRACON
State Reference	RI
Environment
Light	Night
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Medium Transport High Wing 2 Turboprop Eng
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Cruise
Flight Plan	VFR
Aircraft 2
Make Model Name	Any Unknown or Unlisted Aircraft Manufacturer
Person 1
Function	Approach Instructor
Qualification	Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
Experience	Air Traffic Control Time Certified In Pos 1 (yrs) 3
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types Conflict NMAC

Narrative:

I was providing on the job training to a cpc in training. Traffic wasn't that busy or complex. We took radar on [an aircraft] but never got him on frequency. We reached out to him a few times with no response. We believed he was too low for radio coverage as is common in that sector especially with our frequency at block island out of service. Our first contact with him was just prior to exiting our airspace saying he would like to report a near mid air collision. We got the information from him and advised we did not have communication with him nor did we see any traffic for him in the mentioned area at the time he traversed the area. The nearest traffic that may have been the one in conflict was orbiting off the coast of westerly wst at 1;200.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: PVD TRACON Controller reported taking radar on a VFR aircraft; but was unable to initially contact him via VHF. When the aircraft did come on frequency he reported an NMAC. An ATC radio outage may have prevented initial contact; but no NMAC was observed on radar.

Narrative: I was providing on the job training to a CPC in training. Traffic wasn't that busy or complex. We took radar on [an aircraft] but never got him on frequency. We reached out to him a few times with no response. We believed he was too low for radio coverage as is common in that sector especially with our frequency at Block Island out of service. Our first contact with him was just prior to exiting our airspace saying he would like to report a near mid air collision. We got the information from him and advised we did not have communication with him nor did we see any traffic for him in the mentioned area at the time he traversed the area. The nearest traffic that may have been the one in conflict was orbiting off the coast of westerly WST at 1;200.

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.

Pvd TRACON controller reported taking radar on a VFR aircraft; but was unable to initially contact him via VHF. When the aircraft did come on frequency he reported an near midair collision. An ATC radio outage may have prevented initial contact; but no near midair collision was observed on radar.