Narrative:

I was working approach west (apw); my primary responsibility is working the final approach for sat. 5c1 airport is approximately 15 miles northwest of sat almost underneath our final. At the time of the event I had several aircraft on final; one on base leg; and 3 on the north downwind. I observed a primary target only depart 5c1 and headed northeast directly at aircraft X on base leg. I called the traffic multiple times; aircraft X finally observed the target; a small aircraft climbing through his altitude. Closest proximity 1.1 miles and zero vertical according to aircraft X data and pilot reported altitude. This aircraft was obviously climbing and now in direct conflict with all three aircraft on the downwind. Aircraft Y and aircraft Z were vectored off of the downwind and left high; one turned out to go in front of the traffic; one angled in towards the final to go behind the traffic; and one put on base leg early. Aircraft Y avoided the aircraft by 1.3 NM and unknown vertical; aircraft Z by 1.8 NM unknown vertical. All of these actions were taken to avoid an aircraft skirting the boundary of sat class C; climbing through the point in which the majority of aircraft arriving into san antonio international are descending on the downwind and on the base leg from the north; with no mode C and no flight following. This type of operation should not be requiring the final controller to break people off of the arrival; and change the sequence of airliners; resulting in a drastic; and very quick spike in workload and loss of efficiency to the international airport.sadly; controllers here at sat have become very accustomed to this type of operation and watching for these aircraft at this relatively busy; uncontrolled satellite airport that lies on final to sat right underneath the localizer to our primary runway. There have been events though where this type of operation takes place and the controllers are completely unaware until a pilot reports seeing traffic that we cannot see due to them being small gliders; orbiting in one spot making them blind to primary radar; and no transponder making them blind to secondary radar. To make matters worse; with no transponder; our last line of defense; TCAS; is also not helpful. This area is also accompanied by rising terrain leaving you very few options for separation once aircraft have been given their final descent prior to being cleared for the approach.multiple reports have been filed in the previous years; multiple attempts to educate the flight schools and pilots based at the airports; multiple requests to the FAA for controlled airspace changes have all fell on deaf ears. This is an absolute safety hazard and we are told there is nothing we can do about it. As a part of the local safety council; I have personally been involved in working this issue and I cannot believe that after some of the events that we have seen; and reported; that there is nothing we can do to get airspace changed. A class B airspace; or even a class C extension to encompass more of our final would provide safe; sterile airspace for us to safely descend and clear aircraft into sat without worrying if there is a glider orbiting on the localizer at the same altitude as an air carrier or without wondering which way that VFR target is about to turn next and wondering if I should cancel approach clearances and break airliners off of the localizer because I have no idea what this VFR target is climbing to or if his mode C is even correct.sat needs an extension of our class C or a larger airspace such as class B to fully protect the final to our primary runway.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: San Antonio TRACON Controller reported a VFR aircraft flying in close proximity to the final for SAT; caused him to take aircraft off final and sequence again to avoid traffic. Reporter suggested the Class C needs modification or develop a Class B for the area.

Narrative: I was working Approach West (APW); my primary responsibility is working the final approach for SAT. 5C1 airport is approximately 15 miles northwest of SAT almost underneath our final. At the time of the event I had several aircraft on final; one on base leg; and 3 on the north downwind. I observed a primary target only depart 5C1 and headed northeast directly at Aircraft X on base leg. I called the traffic multiple times; Aircraft X finally observed the target; a small aircraft climbing through his altitude. Closest proximity 1.1 miles and zero vertical according to Aircraft X data and pilot reported altitude. This aircraft was obviously climbing and now in direct conflict with all three aircraft on the downwind. Aircraft Y and Aircraft Z were vectored off of the downwind and left high; one turned out to go in front of the traffic; one angled in towards the final to go behind the traffic; and one put on base leg early. Aircraft Y avoided the aircraft by 1.3 NM and unknown vertical; Aircraft Z by 1.8 NM unknown vertical. All of these actions were taken to avoid an aircraft skirting the boundary of SAT Class C; climbing through the point in which the majority of aircraft arriving into San Antonio International are descending on the downwind and on the base leg from the north; with no mode C and no flight following. This type of operation should not be requiring the final controller to break people off of the arrival; and change the sequence of airliners; resulting in a drastic; and very quick spike in workload and loss of efficiency to the international airport.Sadly; controllers here at SAT have become very accustomed to this type of operation and watching for these aircraft at this relatively busy; uncontrolled satellite airport that lies on final to SAT right underneath the localizer to our primary runway. There have been events though where this type of operation takes place and the controllers are completely unaware until a pilot reports seeing traffic that we cannot see due to them being small gliders; orbiting in one spot making them blind to primary radar; and no transponder making them blind to secondary radar. To make matters worse; with no transponder; our last line of defense; TCAS; is also not helpful. This area is also accompanied by rising terrain leaving you very few options for separation once aircraft have been given their final descent prior to being cleared for the approach.Multiple reports have been filed in the previous years; multiple attempts to educate the flight schools and pilots based at the airports; multiple requests to the FAA for controlled airspace changes have all fell on deaf ears. This is an absolute safety hazard and we are told there is nothing we can do about it. As a part of the local safety council; I have personally been involved in working this issue and I cannot believe that after some of the events that we have seen; and reported; that there is nothing we can do to get airspace changed. A Class B airspace; or even a Class C extension to encompass more of our final would provide safe; sterile airspace for us to safely descend and clear aircraft into SAT without worrying if there is a glider orbiting on the localizer at the same altitude as an air carrier or without wondering which way that VFR target is about to turn next and wondering if I should cancel approach clearances and break airliners off of the localizer because I have no idea what this VFR target is climbing to or if his mode C is even correct.SAT needs an extension of our Class C or a larger airspace such as Class B to fully protect the final to our primary runway.

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.