Narrative:

On 9/90, I was working the radar east, an arrival position at little rock approach. I was talking to approximately 12-14 aircraft with landline and frequency congestion on a north flow. Small aircraft X checked in south of malvern landing little rock at 5000'. Small aircraft Y inbound north of malvern inbound to north little rock airport at 4000' was handed off to radar west. Small aircraft X requested lower altitude and was told to expect lower altitude in 3 mi. Small aircraft Y was advised of VFR traffic ahead nebnd. I then went back to the arrival sequence at little rock. Someone then on frequency asked for descent, but I did not hear the call sign. I thought small aircraft Y was already on the radar west frequency. I then observed the mode C readout of small aircraft Y at 3800' in 'nb' status and thought the radar west controller had descended the aircraft, so at that point small aircraft X was approximately 5-6 mi behind was descended to 4000'. After noticing that the data tag of small aircraft Y dropped off I notified the aircraft of traffic in her position and descended and turned the aircraft to achieve greater sep from the small aircraft X. I believe this error might not have occurred if all radar positions (east, arrival, west) were open at the time of the error. At this facility traffic is not steady. Arrs and/or departures come all at once and in many cases not all positions are manned or can be manned in time. Also this facility is not equipped with ARTS ii a, conflict alert or airspeed readout. At a facility this size those items are a necessity.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: ACFT PASSED ANOTHER ACFT WITHOUT STANDARD RADAR SEPARATION OR ALT SEPARATION.

Narrative: ON 9/90, I WAS WORKING THE RADAR E, AN ARR POS AT LITTLE ROCK APCH. I WAS TALKING TO APPROX 12-14 ACFT WITH LANDLINE AND FREQ CONGESTION ON A N FLOW. SMA X CHKED IN S OF MALVERN LNDG LITTLE ROCK AT 5000'. SMA Y INBND N OF MALVERN INBND TO N LITTLE ROCK ARPT AT 4000' WAS HANDED OFF TO RADAR W. SMA X REQUESTED LOWER ALT AND WAS TOLD TO EXPECT LOWER ALT IN 3 MI. SMA Y WAS ADVISED OF VFR TFC AHEAD NEBND. I THEN WENT BACK TO THE ARR SEQUENCE AT LITTLE ROCK. SOMEONE THEN ON FREQ ASKED FOR DSNT, BUT I DID NOT HEAR THE CALL SIGN. I THOUGHT SMA Y WAS ALREADY ON THE RADAR W FREQ. I THEN OBSERVED THE MODE C READOUT OF SMA Y AT 3800' IN 'NB' STATUS AND THOUGHT THE RADAR W CTLR HAD DSNDED THE ACFT, SO AT THAT POINT SMA X WAS APPROX 5-6 MI BEHIND WAS DSNDED TO 4000'. AFTER NOTICING THAT THE DATA TAG OF SMA Y DROPPED OFF I NOTIFIED THE ACFT OF TFC IN HER POS AND DSNDED AND TURNED THE ACFT TO ACHIEVE GREATER SEP FROM THE SMA X. I BELIEVE THIS ERROR MIGHT NOT HAVE OCCURRED IF ALL RADAR POSITIONS (E, ARR, W) WERE OPEN AT THE TIME OF THE ERROR. AT THIS FAC TFC IS NOT STEADY. ARRS AND/OR DEPS COME ALL AT ONCE AND IN MANY CASES NOT ALL POSITIONS ARE MANNED OR CAN BE MANNED IN TIME. ALSO THIS FAC IS NOT EQUIPPED WITH ARTS II A, CONFLICT ALERT OR AIRSPD READOUT. AT A FAC THIS SIZE THOSE ITEMS ARE A NECESSITY.

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.