37000 Feet | Browse and search NASA's Aviation Safety Reporting System |
|
Attributes | |
ACN | 1364411 |
Time | |
Date | 201605 |
Local Time Of Day | 0001-0600 |
Place | |
Locale Reference | ZAB.ARTCC |
State Reference | NM |
Environment | |
Light | Night |
Aircraft 1 | |
Make Model Name | Any Unknown or Unlisted Aircraft Manufacturer |
Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
Flight Phase | Cruise |
Flight Plan | IFR |
Person 1 | |
Function | Enroute |
Qualification | Air Traffic Control Fully Certified |
Experience | Air Traffic Control Time Certified In Pos 1 (yrs) 5 |
Events | |
Anomaly | ATC Issue All Types Deviation - Procedural Clearance Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Inflight Event / Encounter Weather / Turbulence |
Narrative:
This was a mid shift with lower staffing on a holiday. Lots of convective weather all through the southwest USA and up to nebraska and further north. There were breaks in the weather through all of my airspace and south. With a few breaks up in colorado but as the night progressed the northern breaks in the weather closed off so all aircraft were being routed or deviated through my airspace. There were too many planes and too much miscommunication for me to issue any depicted precipitation to multiple aircraft per 7110.65 and further emphasized by our local .149. As a certified professional controller I was unable to coordinate with all the downstream sectors for the directions that aircraft were deviating. I also was unable to accommodate 4th [line] coordination. At one point in the evening ZKC had called and said they wouldn't take handoffs if I didn't get 4th line deviation information in. There were so many planes that I did not follow protocol on I cannot recall all of the aircraft identification's.as air traffic continues to increase more and more in volume it is ridiculous that traffic management coordinators go home and it is a free for all for aircraft with no relief from traffic management unit. There should have been traffic management initiatives to prevent so many aircraft through one area. The operations manager in charge did an amazing job of trying to assist 'in house' with routing planes out of the airspace or further south where there was no weather but it still was not enough. Additionally he had called the command center and was told 'they would see what they could do.' planes should have taken delays on the ground rather than allowing a small section of airspace to become so saturated.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: ZAB Center Controller reported of a mid-shift that was busy with weather deviations. Controller reported being so busy that he could not coordinated as needed.
Narrative: This was a mid shift with lower staffing on a holiday. Lots of convective weather all through the southwest USA and up to Nebraska and further north. There were breaks in the weather through all of my airspace and south. With a few breaks up in Colorado but as the night progressed the northern breaks in the weather closed off so all aircraft were being routed or deviated through my airspace. There were too many planes and too much miscommunication for me to issue any depicted precipitation to multiple aircraft per 7110.65 and further emphasized by our local .149. As a Certified Professional Controller I was unable to coordinate with all the downstream sectors for the directions that aircraft were deviating. I also was unable to accommodate 4th [line] coordination. At one point in the evening ZKC had called and said they wouldn't take handoffs if I didn't get 4th line deviation information in. There were so many planes that I did not follow protocol on I cannot recall all of the aircraft ID's.As air traffic continues to increase more and more in volume it is ridiculous that Traffic Management Coordinators go home and it is a free for all for aircraft with no relief from Traffic Management Unit. There should have been Traffic Management Initiatives to prevent so many aircraft through one area. The Operations Manager In Charge did an amazing job of trying to assist 'in house' with routing planes out of the airspace or further south where there was no weather but it still was not enough. Additionally he had called the command center and was told 'they would see what they could do.' Planes should have taken delays on the ground rather than allowing a small section of airspace to become so saturated.
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.