Narrative:

My trainee and I received a brief and took the collaborative arrival planning (cap) position with aircraft X in our airspace northbound to the next fix on his route; pnt. Aircraft X was on a complex IFR flight plan and wanted to do multiple practice approaches at multiple airports along his route. Normally; when the cap position is open; I would expect the ARTS position symbol for aircraft X to be a 'T'. And after the aircraft is handed off to the stq sector the ARTS position symbol would change to a 'C'. Again the position symbol would normally be a 'T' before the handoff and a 'C' after the handoff. A few minutes into the session; with aircraft X about 10 miles south of the pia/stq border; and on a 'C' tag; my trainee switched the aircraft to stq. All seemed normal to me. A few minutes later my supervisor informed me that there was an issue with aircraft X. In reviewing the situation; I believe that my trainee and I took the cap position with aircraft X already on a 'C' tag not because the aircraft had been handed off but because the aircraft had to be ARTS 'forced' onto the scope by a previous controller. When aircraft are ARTS forced at pia they come up on 'C' tags; the same 'C' tag that also indicates that the aircraft has been handed off. Also; aircraft that are on IFR flight plans; especially round robin IFR flight plans are almost always an ARTS nightmare or a handoff nightmare if they do practice approaches at an airport that is in the middle of their route. They should file separate flight plans to each airport.also; I should have sought clarification because during the brief aircraft X was on a 'C' tag but was not mentioned as having been handed off.also; my trainee switched aircraft X to stq about 10 miles south of the border. Why didn't the stq controller call us and say 'aircraft X is on my freq but I didn't take a handoff'? I certainly would have done that for the stq controller and for the safety of the national airspace system. In fact; I have done that and more for stq controllers during my years at pia. I called it teamwork.procedure change. Pilots who choose to do practice approaches and then want to proceed IFR to anywhere else should have to file a flight plan from the airport that they are leaving to a new destination. And if they do practice approaches at that airport and want to fly IFR to another airport; they should have another IFR flight plan. In other words if do practice approaches at airport X and want to depart airport X IFR; you should have a flight plan from airport X to somewhere.if an aircraft must be ARTS forced; it should come up on a tag of anything but 'C'. There are lots of other letters in the alphabet. 'C' is really the only letter that should not be used. This is because 'C' is the same as an aircraft that has been handed off. We should have teamwork between pia and stq.I need to be extra vigilant in getting a clear and complete briefing before taking the position with a trainee.

Google
 

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: PIA Controller who was training another individual; thought an aircraft had been handed off but in reality it had not; ending in an airspace violation.

Narrative: My trainee and I received a brief and took the Collaborative Arrival Planning (CAP) position with Aircraft X in our airspace northbound to the next fix on his route; PNT. Aircraft X was on a complex IFR flight plan and wanted to do multiple practice approaches at multiple airports along his route. Normally; when the CAP position is open; I would expect the ARTS position symbol for Aircraft X to be a 'T'. And after the aircraft is handed off to the STQ sector the ARTS position symbol would change to a 'C'. Again the position symbol would normally be a 'T' before the handoff and a 'C' after the handoff. A few minutes into the session; with Aircraft X about 10 miles south of the PIA/STQ border; and on a 'C' tag; my trainee switched the aircraft to STQ. All seemed normal to me. A few minutes later my supervisor informed me that there was an issue with Aircraft X. In reviewing the situation; I believe that my trainee and I took the CAP position with Aircraft X already on a 'C' tag not because the aircraft had been handed off but because the aircraft had to be ARTS 'forced' onto the scope by a previous controller. When aircraft are ARTS forced at PIA they come up on 'C' tags; the same 'C' tag that also indicates that the aircraft has been handed off. Also; aircraft that are on IFR flight plans; especially round robin IFR flight plans are almost always an ARTS nightmare or a handoff nightmare if they do practice approaches at an airport that is in the middle of their route. They should file separate flight plans to each airport.Also; I should have sought clarification because during the brief Aircraft X was on a 'C' tag but was not mentioned as having been handed off.Also; my trainee switched Aircraft X to STQ about 10 miles south of the border. Why didn't the STQ controller call us and say 'Aircraft X is on my freq but I didn't take a handoff'? I certainly would have done that for the STQ controller and for the safety of the National Airspace System. In fact; I have done that and more for STQ controllers during my years at PIA. I called it teamwork.Procedure Change. Pilots who choose to do practice approaches and then want to proceed IFR to anywhere else should have to file a flight plan from the airport that they are leaving to a new destination. And if they do practice approaches at that airport and want to fly IFR to another airport; they should have another IFR flight plan. In other words if do practice approaches at airport X and want to depart airport X IFR; you should have a flight plan from airport X to somewhere.If an aircraft must be ARTS forced; it should come up on a tag of ANYTHING BUT 'C'. There are lots of other letters in the alphabet. 'C' is really the only letter that should NOT be used. This is because 'C' is the same as an aircraft that has been handed off. We should have teamwork between PIA and STQ.I need to be extra vigilant in getting a clear and complete briefing before taking the position with a trainee.

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.