Narrative:

Shortly after takeoff; my flight experienced a trim runaway and [requested priority handling] with ATC. They returned to field in ZZZ and were in the air for approximately 20 minutes and after they blocked in I spoke with the captain. I did not immediately see anything wrong or illegal that I or the crew did so did not think an [report] would be warranted. However; after further reflection; I actually do have an issue with the length of time it took for me to become aware of it as it happened.during the emergency; I was actually one of the last people to know what was going on and that does not sit well with me. Everything on my screen indicated a normal takeoff and that the flight was heading towards lga as planned. The crew was unable to communicate with me due to the situation; which is absolutely justified. However; nothing on my desk alerted me to anything for a long time and it was a coordinator who first received any indication that there was a problem.fusion has alert functions that can pop up on a dispatcher's desk to alert them to problems that meet certain criteria. One of those alert definitions is 'asde-x emergency transponder code detected' which should alert on the desk when a flight being followed is squawking an emergency transponder code. This alert only went off on one coordinator's desk and had they not been working or logged into fusion; nobody would have received this alert at all. Our next indication of a problem was when ZZZ operations called to inquire about an emergency return-to-field; which we were still unaware of. It was not brought to my attention until the duty manager walked over to ask me what was going on with the flight; to which I responded that they had just taken off and were on their way; still unaware of any problem.in order to piece together the facts as the dispatcher who was responsible for the flight's safety; I even resorted to going on my phone to an ATC frequency broadcasting website and listened along as my flight was landing and communicating with the tower. While this was an emergency situation and I know sometimes the information takes some time to reveal itself; I strongly believe the alert should have popped up on my desk because that would have immediately let me know there was a situation.a few nights later; I checked with that coordinator and asked them to show me what alert definition they had selected so I could turn mine on; thinking I must not have had that option selected. However; after looking into this; I actually already did have that option selected (screen shots attached for reference); as did many other dispatchers. Therefore; I am unsure what resources to use to make sure the dispatch floor is able to use this feature because I believe it would have greatly shortened the length of time between the incident beginning and myself learning about it.for resolution; it would be nice to find out why I was never alerted to this emergency through the fusion tools and how to make sure it works properly because early awareness of emergencies during takeoff is obviously very important. I am also curious if it is possible for dispatchers to have quick; easy access to live ATC broadcasts. Had I been aware of the situation sooner I could have listened in and learned exactly what was happening real-time rather than being unsure until after landing. My crew was unable to arinc or ACARS me but was speaking with the tower. Maybe a link on the operations control intranet page and available headphones at the desks?it was just very unsettling to have operational control over a flight [requesting priority handling] but feel as though I was the last to know what was happening. The alert function would have helped me feel more aware and less helpless during my flight's emergency.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Dispatcher reported that they were not notified when an aircraft under their supervision had an emergency and returned to their departure airport.

Narrative: Shortly after takeoff; my flight experienced a trim runaway and [Requested Priority Handling] with ATC. They returned to field in ZZZ and were in the air for approximately 20 minutes and after they blocked in I spoke with the Captain. I did not immediately see anything wrong or illegal that I or the crew did so did not think an [Report] would be warranted. However; after further reflection; I actually do have an issue with the length of time it took for me to become aware of it as it happened.During the emergency; I was actually one of the last people to know what was going on and that does not sit well with me. Everything on my screen indicated a normal takeoff and that the flight was heading towards LGA as planned. The crew was unable to communicate with me due to the situation; which is absolutely justified. However; nothing on my desk alerted me to anything for a long time and it was a coordinator who first received any indication that there was a problem.Fusion has alert functions that can pop up on a Dispatcher's desk to alert them to problems that meet certain criteria. One of those alert definitions is 'ASDE-x Emergency transponder code detected' which should alert on the desk when a flight being followed is squawking an emergency transponder code. This alert only went off on one coordinator's desk and had they not been working or logged into Fusion; nobody would have received this alert at all. Our next indication of a problem was when ZZZ operations called to inquire about an emergency return-to-field; which we were still unaware of. It was not brought to my attention until the duty manager walked over to ask me what was going on with the flight; to which I responded that they had just taken off and were on their way; still unaware of any problem.In order to piece together the facts as the Dispatcher who was responsible for the flight's safety; I even resorted to going on my phone to an ATC frequency broadcasting website and listened along as my flight was landing and communicating with the Tower. While this was an emergency situation and I know sometimes the information takes some time to reveal itself; I strongly believe the alert should have popped up on my desk because that would have immediately let me know there was a situation.A few nights later; I checked with that coordinator and asked them to show me what alert definition they had selected so I could turn mine on; thinking I must not have had that option selected. However; after looking into this; I actually already did have that option selected (screen shots attached for reference); as did many other Dispatchers. Therefore; I am unsure what resources to use to make sure the Dispatch floor is able to use this feature because I believe it would have greatly shortened the length of time between the incident beginning and myself learning about it.For resolution; it would be nice to find out why I was never alerted to this emergency through the Fusion tools and how to make sure it works properly because early awareness of emergencies during takeoff is obviously very important. I am also curious if it is possible for Dispatchers to have quick; easy access to live ATC broadcasts. Had I been aware of the situation sooner I could have listened in and learned exactly what was happening real-time rather than being unsure until after landing. My crew was unable to ARINC or ACARS me but was speaking with the Tower. Maybe a link on the Operations Control intranet page and available headphones at the desks?It was just very unsettling to have operational control over a flight [Requesting Priority Handling] but feel as though I was the last to know what was happening. The alert function would have helped me feel more aware and less helpless during my flight's emergency.

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.