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Tower controller reported similar sounding call signs from a local flight school routinely cause confusion and increase workload.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1701505 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201911 |
| Local Time Of Day | 1801-2400 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | APA.Tower |
| State Reference | CO |
| Environment | |
| Flight Conditions | VMC |
| Light | Daylight |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | Skyhawk 172/Cutlass 172 |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 91 |
| Flight Phase | Landing |
| Route In Use | VFR Route |
| Flight Plan | VFR |
| Aircraft 2 | |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 91 |
| Flight Phase | Initial Approach |
| Route In Use | VFR Route |
| Flight Plan | VFR |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Local |
| Qualification | Air Traffic Control Fully Certified |
| Experience | Air Traffic Control Time Certified In Pos 1 (yrs) 3.0 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | ATC Issue All Types Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy |
Narrative:
Another example of similar sounding call signs during a very busy time period with multiple VFR aircraft calling inbound. It took a few minutes to recognize the similar sounding call signs and one of the pilots was a student that I was providing additional care with. Fortunately nothing safety related happened during this session but it worries me to think that I could have turned [aircraft] a direction for traffic and the other aircraft could have turned into traffic with the similar sounding call sign. We are expecting the similar sounding call signs and it still takes time to be able to process and recognize the situation when you have lots of other high priorities. Is there a way to waive the fee for a major flight school or assign an air taxi call sign? If the flight schools here had a call sign that had unique and different numbers then we wouldn't have such a big problem here. Similar sounding call signs are going to continue to be a problem here at our busy airport but this is a predictable problem that is preventable.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: Tower Controller reported similar sounding call signs from a local flight school routinely cause confusion and increase workload.
Narrative: Another example of similar sounding call signs during a very busy time period with multiple VFR aircraft calling inbound. It took a few minutes to recognize the similar sounding call signs and one of the pilots was a student that I was providing additional care with. Fortunately nothing safety related happened during this session but it worries me to think that I could have turned [Aircraft] a direction for traffic and the other aircraft could have turned into traffic with the similar sounding call sign. We are expecting the similar sounding call signs and it still takes time to be able to process and recognize the situation when you have lots of other high priorities. Is there a way to waive the fee for a major flight school or assign an air taxi call sign? If the flight schools here had a call sign that had unique and different numbers then we wouldn't have such a big problem here. Similar sounding call signs are going to continue to be a problem here at our busy airport but this is a predictable problem that is preventable.
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.