37000 Feet | Browse and search NASA's Aviation Safety Reporting System |
|
Attributes | |
ACN | 1758595 |
Time | |
Date | 202008 |
Local Time Of Day | ZZZ |
Place | |
Locale Reference | P80.TRACON |
State Reference | OR |
Environment | |
Flight Conditions | VMC |
Light | Daylight |
Aircraft 1 | |
Make Model Name | Medium Transport Low Wing 2 Turbojet Eng |
Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
Flight Phase | Descent |
Flight Plan | IFR |
Aircraft 2 | |
Make Model Name | Small Aircraft Low Wing 1 Eng Fixed Gear |
Operating Under FAR Part | Part 91 |
Flight Phase | Descent |
Route In Use | VFR Route |
Flight Plan | VFR |
Person 1 | |
Function | Approach |
Qualification | Air Traffic Control Fully Certified |
Events | |
Anomaly | ATC Issue All Types Conflict Airborne Conflict Deviation - Procedural Clearance Deviation - Track / Heading All Types |
Narrative:
While I was working an arrival sector I was controlling aircraft X descending on the zzzzz arrival. I was also controlling aircraft Y that was dropping jumpers from 14;000 ft. Directly east of the zzzzz arrival. Once aircraft Y advised me that he dropped his jumpers I saw a potential conflict between aircraft Y descending to their airport and aircraft X descending on the arrival. To resolve this conflict I instructed aircraft Y to descend east so that the aircraft would descend away from aircraft X. Aircraft Y did not proceed as I instructed and instead turned west bound and continued to descend on top of aircraft X. As soon as I saw aircraft Y ignoring my instruction and descending west I issued traffic to aircraft X and instructed him to turn northwest bound heading 330.aircraft X did not hear my initial instruction and I had to repeat with a traffic alert and a further turn northwest bound heading 310. Not only is the pilot of aircraft Y ignoring my instructions a safety risk but the LOA (letter of agreement) that is in place with these skydive operations is not specific enough to keep these operations at a safe distance from our zzzzz arrival. As long as I have been working here this has been a safety issue. The pilots of these skydive operations have been allowed to practice unsafe operations without any repercussions. To prevent a reoccurrence of this event I think there should be a dialogue between our facility and the pilots of these skydive operations. If there is one already then I am not aware of this because there appears to be no transparency between the controllers and management. I also think that the LOA we have in place with company a and company B are not specific enough to ensure a safe operation between skydiving and aircraft descending on the arrival. The LOA between TRACON; company a and company B should be re-written to ensure the safe operation of aircraft within the TRACON airspace.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: An Approach Controller reported an airborne conflict between a parachute jump aircraft and an air carrier on arrival.
Narrative: While I was working an arrival sector I was controlling Aircraft X descending on the ZZZZZ arrival. I was also controlling Aircraft Y that was dropping jumpers from 14;000 ft. directly east of the ZZZZZ arrival. Once Aircraft Y advised me that he dropped his jumpers I saw a potential conflict between Aircraft Y descending to their airport and Aircraft X descending on the arrival. To resolve this conflict I instructed Aircraft Y to descend east so that the aircraft would descend away from Aircraft X. Aircraft Y did not proceed as I instructed and instead turned west bound and continued to descend on top of Aircraft X. As soon as I saw Aircraft Y ignoring my instruction and descending west I issued traffic to Aircraft X and instructed him to turn northwest bound heading 330.Aircraft X did not hear my initial instruction and I had to repeat with a traffic alert and a further turn northwest bound heading 310. Not only is the pilot of Aircraft Y ignoring my instructions a safety risk but the LOA (Letter of Agreement) that is in place with these skydive operations is not specific enough to keep these operations at a safe distance from our ZZZZZ arrival. As long as I have been working here this has been a safety issue. The pilots of these skydive operations have been allowed to practice unsafe operations without any repercussions. To prevent a reoccurrence of this event I think there should be a dialogue between our facility and the pilots of these skydive operations. If there is one already then I am not aware of this because there appears to be no transparency between the controllers and management. I also think that the LOA we have in place with Company A and Company B are not specific enough to ensure a safe operation between skydiving and aircraft descending on the arrival. The LOA between TRACON; Company A and Company B should be re-written to ensure the safe operation of aircraft within the TRACON airspace.
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.