Narrative:

The controller in charge (controller in charge) warned me about 10 minutes before it started that I was going to get busy. As soon as I saw about 6 handoffs flashing from 2 different sectors I asked for and got a D side [radar assist]. When I saw all the limited [radar data tags] approaching my airspace I called for more help and got an left side [coordinator]. If my controller in charge knew it was coming; the bay 2 supervisor should have known this was happening in sector 38. I don't know if they had a D side and left side; but if they didn't; something should be done! This was an absolute failure of the NAS tonight. And where was tmu; what were they doing about this? As soon as I got out of position I walked up to the operations manager desk and the operations manager; the supervisor of tmc (traffic management); and someone else were [casually talking]. They didn't even know what had just happened. Isn't it in all of our job descriptions; whether we are atcs [controllers] or supervisors of any level; to ensure the safety of the NAS? This did not happen tonight. I know I'm not the only controller to experience this kind of situation this summer. I didn't even have a deal tonight. I upset a lot of pilots; was absolutely embarrassed at my performance because I didn't know what to do. This is unacceptable that we have to deal with this kind of added stress on top of our already stressful job.how about everyone do their job. Take some pride in what they do. Stop saying oh well; the controllers will deal with it...they always do. Also; we need coordinator positions in the ARTCC environment. We had them in approach control in the [military] and they were there for when it got busy and they would plug in and think outside of the box to help alleviate the work load or complexity or do any coordination that needed to take place within the area. We were so far behind we could not safely complete the briefing so he just plugged in behind me and 'helped'. He saved me from at least one deal with one of the inappropriate altitude aircraft that came from R38. We worked together to keep me going; they saved me.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: ZDC Controller reported being so busy that the operation became out of control. Aircraft were arriving from two sectors; one of which was not handing some of their aircraft off. The operations managers were not aware of the situation.

Narrative: The Controller in Charge (CIC) warned me about 10 minutes before it started that I was going to get busy. As soon as I saw about 6 handoffs flashing from 2 different sectors I asked for and got a D side [radar assist]. When I saw all the limited [radar data tags] approaching my airspace I called for more help and got an L side [coordinator]. If my CIC knew it was coming; the Bay 2 supervisor should have known this was happening in sector 38. I don't know if they had a D side and L side; but if they didn't; something should be done! This was an absolute failure of the NAS tonight. And where was TMU; what were they doing about this? As soon as I got out of position I walked up to the Operations Manager desk and the Operations Manager; the Supervisor of TMC (Traffic Management); and someone else were [casually talking]. They didn't even know what had just happened. Isn't it in ALL of our job descriptions; whether we are ATCS [controllers] or Supervisors of ANY level; to ensure the safety of the NAS? This did not happen tonight. I know I'm not the only controller to experience this kind of situation this summer. I didn't even have a deal tonight. I upset a lot of pilots; was absolutely embarrassed at my performance because I didn't know what to do. This is unacceptable that we have to deal with this kind of added stress on top of our already stressful job.How about EVERYONE do their job. Take some pride in what they do. Stop saying oh well; the controllers will deal with it...they always do. Also; we need coordinator positions in the ARTCC environment. We had them in approach control in the [military] and they were there for when it got busy and they would plug in and think outside of the box to help alleviate the work load or complexity or do any coordination that needed to take place within the area. We were so far behind we could not safely complete the briefing so he just plugged in behind me and 'helped'. He saved me from at least one deal with one of the inappropriate altitude aircraft that came from R38. We worked together to keep me going; they saved me.

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.