Narrative:

I was working the radar sector. I noticed that a ghost track for aircraft X was displayed on my radar scope; but we never received a phone call. Looking at the flight plan; it appeared that the flight would be a simple point-out as they would never enter my airspace. A few minutes later; I took the hand-off on aircraft Y. Aircraft Y checked on as a 'flight'. I was a bit surprised by this and asked him to verify. His response was; 'fort worth center; that's affirmative. We have a flight of 5 F18's with us.' I verified it was indeed aircraft X; which he affirmed. I questioned my handoff person if this had been coordinated as the flight plans didn't match. She was shocked and said no. I had her call and ask if we missed something. Apparently; the individual was [new to] training on the sector. Their response was; 'ummmm; yeah we're not sure; but we think they want to break up in your airspace.'I immediately asked aircraft Y; to verify the flight plan of aircraft X. After being off-line for a few minutes; he returned with a much different flight plan. They were going to be a flight until the next center's airspace and they weren't even landing in my airspace! My handoff put the amendment in and corrected the flight plan information. While this was happening; I asked my supervisor what the heck was going on. The supervisor started going through paperwork on the desk and found altrv paperwork that the morning supervisor was given; but never posted at the sector. I checked with the next sector; to find out if they had anything. Big negative. So my supervisor went and made a copy; to pass along.I was blown away about every part of the lack of communication; much less a trainer allowing this to all happen without any coordination. Not to mention whether the correct separation standards had been used (non-standard with 6 aircraft as opposed to only 1). After I got off position; I went to the operations manager desk and sat down with my operation manager(OM). We went over everything and pulled up data. Apparently; the issue went all the way back to the previous center. The routes were never updated and nothing was coordinated correctly. If we hadn't caught it; the next center would have had an ugly surprise. My OM reassured me that he would follow up. I apologize for my untimely filing. I did report it to management immediately and wanted to be sure the data was captured here. I know that there is guidance coming out soon about altrv and formation flights; that the importance is placed on ensuring accurate information is always forwarded.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: ZFW Center Controller reported a flight plan did not indicate the flight was a non-standard formation flight of six aircraft.

Narrative: I was working the Radar Sector. I noticed that a ghost track for Aircraft X was displayed on my radar scope; but we never received a phone call. Looking at the flight plan; it appeared that the flight would be a simple point-out as they would never enter my airspace. A few minutes later; I took the hand-off on Aircraft Y. Aircraft Y checked on as a 'flight'. I was a bit surprised by this and asked him to verify. His response was; 'Fort Worth Center; that's affirmative. We have a flight of 5 F18's with us.' I verified it was indeed Aircraft X; which he affirmed. I questioned my Handoff person if this had been coordinated as the flight plans didn't match. She was shocked and said no. I had her call and ask if we missed something. Apparently; the individual was [new to] training on the sector. Their response was; 'Ummmm; yeah we're not sure; but we think they want to break up in your airspace.'I immediately asked Aircraft Y; to verify the flight plan of Aircraft X. After being off-line for a few minutes; he returned with a much different flight plan. They were going to be a flight until the next Center's airspace and they weren't even landing in my airspace! My Handoff put the amendment in and corrected the flight plan information. While this was happening; I asked my supervisor what the heck was going on. The supervisor started going through paperwork on the desk and found ALTRV paperwork that the morning supervisor was given; but never posted at the sector. I checked with the next sector; to find out if they had anything. Big negative. So my supervisor went and made a copy; to pass along.I was blown away about every part of the lack of communication; much less a trainer allowing this to all happen without ANY coordination. Not to mention whether the correct separation standards had been used (non-standard with 6 aircraft as opposed to only 1). After I got off position; I went to the Operations Manager desk and sat down with my Operation Manager(OM). We went over everything and pulled up data. Apparently; the issue went all the way back to the previous Center. The routes were never updated and nothing was coordinated correctly. If we hadn't caught it; the next Center would have had an ugly surprise. My OM reassured me that he would follow up. I apologize for my untimely filing. I did report it to management immediately and wanted to be sure the data was captured here. I know that there is guidance coming out soon about ALTRV and Formation Flights; that the importance is placed on ensuring accurate information is always forwarded.

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.