Narrative:

I had just came back from break when my supervisor asked me to open up a sector from a combined sector as both were at an increased volume. As I sat down I advised the radar controller and handoff position that they could call back when they are ready to have the sectors split. When it is busy I like to leave that decision up to the team who is working the traffic currently so as not to distract them with uncontrolled datablocks. As I sat; plugged into the non-open sector; I heard them both question out loud with confusion as to where air carrier xx was. The radar controller asked for his location. I was scanning the scope too and found air carrier xx just southwest of [fix] so I rose from my seat and pointed on the scope.that's when I heard the radar controller say no; he said he's at 28000 feet to which theirs was at 27000 feet stopped for traffic. That's when the handoff controller jumped and pointed at a limited datablock at 28000 feet just east of our air carrier xx. The radar controller immediately changed his [callsign] to air carrier xy and the handoff was hurrying to get a flight plan for the other air carrier xx at 28000 feet. At this time I noticed that splitting the sector in this time of confusion was probably not the best idea so I asked the sector team if they wanted me to track. They said yes so I sat down; the radar controller stood to my side; and we worked like this until things calmed down within 20-30 minutes. Later we were told a controller in another area deleted an active flight plan in order to depart the other flight plan.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: ZID Center Controllers reported a Handoff Assist controller removed an active flight plan from the computer causing the radar data tag to drop off their radar display.

Narrative: I had just came back from break when my supervisor asked me to open up a sector from a combined sector as both were at an increased volume. As I sat down I advised the Radar controller and Handoff position that they could call back when they are ready to have the sectors split. When it is busy I like to leave that decision up to the team who is working the traffic currently so as not to distract them with uncontrolled datablocks. As I sat; plugged into the non-open sector; I heard them both question out loud with confusion as to where Air Carrier XX was. The Radar controller asked for his location. I was scanning the scope too and found Air Carrier XX just Southwest of [fix] so I rose from my seat and pointed on the scope.That's when I heard the Radar Controller say no; he said he's at 28000 feet to which theirs was at 27000 feet stopped for traffic. That's when the Handoff Controller jumped and pointed at a limited datablock at 28000 feet just east of our Air Carrier XX. The Radar Controller immediately changed his [callsign] to Air Carrier XY and the handoff was hurrying to get a flight plan for the other Air Carrier XX at 28000 feet. At this time I noticed that splitting the sector in this time of confusion was probably not the best idea so I asked the sector team if they wanted me to track. They said yes so I sat down; the Radar Controller stood to my side; and we worked like this until things calmed down within 20-30 minutes. Later we were told a controller in another area deleted an active flight plan in order to depart the other flight plan.

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.