Narrative:

I noticed the arrival east (are) controller getting busy and came over from the radar controller in charge (rcic) position to assist the controller. The traffic was as busy as I have seen it at gpt with most of the aircraft playing in the radar patterns at hsa and gpt. There were numerous frequency congestions and aircraft talking over one another and most pilots being in training for the military. I called for the data position to be open and we both were assisting the controller the best we could. [Soon after] the are controller asked me if we were ok with the two aircraft; aircraft X and aircraft Y being that they were getting close since one was on the downwind for hsa northbound and the other was on a 140 heading south eastbound. I had heard the controller say 350 heading for the aircraft X so I assured him he was fine and he had course divergence and advised him that it was ok. After checking the tapes I found out it was actually a 360 heading the aircraft X aircraft finally accepted. Separation was lost by 5 degrees in what I believe was a miscommunication between the controller and the military aircraft in training. Ending with the controller and myself believing the separation was maintained due to the 350 heading being stated. Also; it seemed the aircraft Y was not on the assigned heading of 140 which could have resulted in the closeness of the aircraft altogether. With the amount of traffic and confusion that was happening over both frequencies at the same time; the hardback and read backs on both ends become harder to ensure. Maybe suggest a couple aircraft to go into holding until they get in a situation that permits the controller to climb and or proceed on course. In this case there were 10 practice approaches (all military trainees) in which you could just stop a couple practice approaches until you can get your bearings.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Gulfport TRACON Controller reported of a busy session where two aircraft lost separation due to incorrect headings.

Narrative: I noticed the Arrival East (ARE) controller getting busy and came over from the Radar Controller in Charge (RCIC) position to assist the controller. The traffic was as busy as I have seen it at GPT with most of the aircraft playing in the radar patterns at HSA and GPT. There were numerous frequency congestions and aircraft talking over one another and most pilots being in training for the military. I called for the data position to be open and we both were assisting the controller the best we could. [Soon after] the ARE controller asked me if we were ok with the two aircraft; Aircraft X and Aircraft Y being that they were getting close since one was on the downwind for HSA northbound and the other was on a 140 heading south eastbound. I had heard the controller say 350 heading for the Aircraft X so I assured him he was fine and he had course divergence and advised him that it was ok. After checking the tapes I found out it was actually a 360 heading the Aircraft X aircraft finally accepted. Separation was lost by 5 degrees in what I believe was a miscommunication between the controller and the military aircraft in training. Ending with the controller and myself believing the separation was maintained due to the 350 heading being stated. Also; it seemed the Aircraft Y was not on the assigned heading of 140 which could have resulted in the closeness of the aircraft altogether. With the amount of traffic and confusion that was happening over both frequencies at the same time; the hardback and read backs on both ends become harder to ensure. Maybe suggest a couple aircraft to go into holding until they get in a situation that permits the controller to climb and or proceed on course. In this case there were 10 practice approaches (all military trainees) in which you could just stop a couple practice approaches until you can get your bearings.

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.