The area sector where the reporter was working lost 2 radar sites simultaneously. A few moments late...

Narrative:

At approximately XX15 2 main radar sites failed in the area I was working. The sector I was working, the qas (las) radar site, failed coming back at XX22. Also cdc which is the next site northeast of las failed coming back at XX23. At XX20, 2 radio sites failed also, nelson and cdc. At XX45 the nelson site returned to service. I'm not sure when cdc returned to service. The sector was almost completely unusable with half of its radar missing and half its radios gone. Traffic was light at the time, but actions needed to be taken like combining at a sector which had good frequencys. If this had happened during a busy time I'm not sure what could've been done. In the last 2 weeks since this incident, I've seen 2 main UHF frequencys OTS for over 6 hours and 1 main VHF out for 4 hours. That's not information just cause I happened to be working the sector. I'm sure more frequencys have failed. This is happening too often.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: THE AREA SECTOR WHERE THE REPORTER WAS WORKING LOST 2 RADAR SITES SIMULTANEOUSLY. A FEW MOMENTS LATER, THE SAME SECTOR LOST 2 RADIO COMS SITES.

Narrative: AT APPROX XX15 2 MAIN RADAR SITES FAILED IN THE AREA I WAS WORKING. THE SECTOR I WAS WORKING, THE QAS (LAS) RADAR SITE, FAILED COMING BACK AT XX22. ALSO CDC WHICH IS THE NEXT SITE NE OF LAS FAILED COMING BACK AT XX23. AT XX20, 2 RADIO SITES FAILED ALSO, NELSON AND CDC. AT XX45 THE NELSON SITE RETURNED TO SVC. I'M NOT SURE WHEN CDC RETURNED TO SVC. THE SECTOR WAS ALMOST COMPLETELY UNUSABLE WITH HALF OF ITS RADAR MISSING AND HALF ITS RADIOS GONE. TFC WAS LIGHT AT THE TIME, BUT ACTIONS NEEDED TO BE TAKEN LIKE COMBINING AT A SECTOR WHICH HAD GOOD FREQS. IF THIS HAD HAPPENED DURING A BUSY TIME I'M NOT SURE WHAT COULD'VE BEEN DONE. IN THE LAST 2 WKS SINCE THIS INCIDENT, I'VE SEEN 2 MAIN UHF FREQS OTS FOR OVER 6 HRS AND 1 MAIN VHF OUT FOR 4 HRS. THAT'S NOT INFO JUST CAUSE I HAPPENED TO BE WORKING THE SECTOR. I'M SURE MORE FREQS HAVE FAILED. THIS IS HAPPENING TOO OFTEN.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 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.

Attributes
ACN	155655
Time
Date	199008
Day	Fri
Local Time Of Day	1801 To 2400
Place
Locale Reference	atc facility : zla
State Reference	CA
Person 1
Affiliation	government : faa
Function	controller : radar
Qualification	controller : radar
Experience	controller radar : 2
ASRS Report	156655
Events
Anomaly	other anomaly other
Independent Detector	other controllera
Resolutory Action	none taken : unable
Consequence	faa : investigated
Supplementary
Primary Problem	ATC Human Performance
Air Traffic Incident	other

The area sector where the reporter was working lost 2 radar sites simultaneously. A few moments later, the same sector lost 2 radio communications sites.