 |
37000 Feet | Browse and search NASA's Aviation Safety Reporting System |
|
Denver TRACON controller reported an emergency aircraft inbound could not turn early due to a SOP that had been implemented; which then had the aircraft fly a 15 mile final.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1685002 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201909 |
| Local Time Of Day | 0001-0600 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | D01.TRACON |
| State Reference | CO |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | Commercial Fixed Wing |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | Descent |
| Route In Use | Vectors |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Approach |
| Qualification | Air Traffic Control Fully Certified |
| Experience | Air Traffic Control Time Certified In Pos 1 (mon) 6 Air Traffic Control Time Certified In Pos 1 (yrs) 7 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | ATC Issue All Types Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy |
Narrative:
Several months ago D01 developed new procedures for landing runway (runway's) 16L/right. These procedures designate one runway as the 'high' runway for an ILS approach and the other 'low' runway for visual approaches. The idea is to get the aircraft established on final with 1;000 feet vertical separation and reduce the number of TCAS RA's. In order to build in this vertical separation an aircraft on the downwind for the high runway must go out to a minimum of 15-18 NM final even if they are number one in the sequence.aircraft X was inbound to den and [identified as] a medical emergency with ZDV prior to entering D01 airspace; a 63 year old unconscious male. AR1 informed me that he attempted to coordinate a visual approach to RWY17L; which would have been the shortest route; but it was denied by the traffic management unit (tmu). Instead they were told to vector aircraft X to a right down wind for the ILS RWY16R approach. When aircraft X checked in with me on fr and re-stated they were a medical emergency; I immediately asked the supervisor if I could descend aircraft X early and clear them for a visual approach to RWY16R via 7110.65 ch. 7-4-4; which could save them potentially critical time. I was told no and that I had to comply with the new SOP. Aircraft X was now required to fly to a 15NM final and given no priority handling.when I was off position; I asked the supervisor why he wouldn't allow me to clear aircraft X via the 7110.65 rules. He said if I had; and it caused a TCAS RA with traffic on the parallel runway; he thought there would be serious repercussions from the [management].1. Develop a SOP that is not so rigid and allow the controllers to use their judgment when an emergency exists.2. Allow aircraft X to make a visual approach to RWY17L; even if it causes a temporary delay for departures off RWY08.3. If the only space for aircraft X was on RWY16R; assign them the rnz approach allowing them to avoid a 15 NM final.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: Denver TRACON Controller reported an emergency aircraft inbound could not turn early due to a SOP that had been implemented; which then had the aircraft fly a 15 mile final.
Narrative: Several months ago D01 developed new procedures for landing Runway (RWY'S) 16L/R. These procedures designate one runway as the 'high' runway for an ILS approach and the other 'low' runway for visual approaches. The idea is to get the aircraft established on final with 1;000 feet vertical separation and reduce the number of TCAS RA's. In order to build in this vertical separation an aircraft on the downwind for the high runway must go out to a minimum of 15-18 NM final even if they are number one in the sequence.Aircraft X was inbound to DEN and [identified as] a medical emergency with ZDV prior to entering D01 airspace; a 63 year old unconscious male. AR1 informed me that he attempted to coordinate a visual approach to RWY17L; which would have been the shortest route; but it was denied by the Traffic Management Unit (TMU). Instead they were told to vector Aircraft X to a right down wind for the ILS RWY16R approach. When Aircraft X checked in with me on FR and re-stated they were a medical emergency; I immediately asked the Supervisor if I could descend Aircraft X early and clear them for a visual approach to RWY16R via 7110.65 ch. 7-4-4; which could save them potentially critical time. I was told no and that I had to comply with the new SOP. Aircraft X was now required to fly to a 15NM final and given no priority handling.When I was off position; I asked the Supervisor why he wouldn't allow me to clear Aircraft X via the 7110.65 rules. He said if I had; and it caused a TCAS RA with traffic on the parallel runway; he thought there would be serious repercussions from the [management].1. Develop a SOP that is not so rigid and allow the controllers to use their judgment when an emergency exists.2. Allow Aircraft X to make a visual approach to RWY17L; even if it causes a temporary delay for departures off RWY08.3. If the only space for Aircraft X was on RWY16R; assign them the RNZ approach allowing them to avoid a 15 NM final.
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.