Scheduled radar shutdown for maintenance increases controller workload.

Attributes
ACN	212805
Time
Date	199206
Day	Sat
Local Time Of Day	0601 To 1200
Place
Locale Reference	atc facility : day
State Reference	OH
Altitude	agl bound lower : 0 agl bound upper : 23000
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Any Unknown or Unlisted Aircraft Manufacturer
Route In Use	enroute airway : zid
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Affiliation	government : faa
Function	controller : radar
Qualification	controller : radar
Experience	controller radar : 5
ASRS Report	212805
Events
Anomaly	other anomaly other
Independent Detector	other controllera
Resolutory Action	none taken : unable
Consequence	Other
Supplementary
Primary Problem	ATC Human Performance
Air Traffic Incident	other
Situations
ATC Facility	procedure or policy : unspecified

Narrative:

For months now, the london, oh, radar has been taken off line for weekly maintenance between the hours of 6 am - 11 am local time on sat or sun mornings. The rosewood low sector is consistently the busiest sector in the facility, and this scheduled outage leaves us with severely limited radar coverage during busy departure and arrival periods. In some areas. We are forced to use non-radar separation as high as FL180. Rosewood also controls the airspace in the vicinity of aoh, which can get quite busy with low-flying GA aircraft. This ridiculous occurrence has been directly responsible for an operational error and, in my view, is a serious compromise of air safety. If necessary, the london radar should be disabled during the very slow sat or sun midshifts when minimal traffic would lessen its impact on the ATC system.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: SCHEDULED RADAR SHUTDOWN FOR MAINT INCREASES CTLR WORKLOAD.

Narrative: FOR MONTHS NOW, THE LONDON, OH, RADAR HAS BEEN TAKEN OFF LINE FOR WKLY MAINT BTWN THE HRS OF 6 AM - 11 AM LCL TIME ON SAT OR SUN MORNINGS. THE ROSEWOOD LOW SECTOR IS CONSISTENTLY THE BUSIEST SECTOR IN THE FACILITY, AND THIS SCHEDULED OUTAGE LEAVES US WITH SEVERELY LIMITED RADAR COVERAGE DURING BUSY DEP AND ARR PERIODS. IN SOME AREAS. WE ARE FORCED TO USE NON-RADAR SEPARATION AS HIGH AS FL180. ROSEWOOD ALSO CTLS THE AIRSPACE IN THE VICINITY OF AOH, WHICH CAN GET QUITE BUSY WITH LOW-FLYING GA ACFT. THIS RIDICULOUS OCCURRENCE HAS BEEN DIRECTLY RESPONSIBLE FOR AN OPERROR AND, IN MY VIEW, IS A SERIOUS COMPROMISE OF AIR SAFETY. IF NECESSARY, THE LONDON RADAR SHOULD BE DISABLED DURING THE VERY SLOW SAT OR SUN MIDSHIFTS WHEN MINIMAL TFC WOULD LESSEN ITS IMPACT ON THE ATC SYS.

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.