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Radar outage occurred while controller had 4 aircraft on frequency. Controller is critical of maintenance personnel quality checking after releasing equipment back for operation.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 224998 |
| Time | |
| Date | 199210 |
| Day | Fri |
| Local Time Of Day | 1201 To 1800 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | airport : bhm |
| State Reference | AL |
| Environment | |
| Flight Conditions | Marginal |
| Light | Daylight |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Controlling Facilities | tracon : bhm tracon : suu |
| Make Model Name | Any Unknown or Unlisted Aircraft Manufacturer |
| Flight Phase | descent : approach |
| Route In Use | arrival other enroute : on vectors |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Person 1 | |
| Affiliation | government : faa |
| Function | controller : approach |
| Qualification | controller : radar |
| Experience | controller military : 4 controller radar : 8 |
| ASRS Report | 224998 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | other anomaly other |
| Independent Detector | other controllera |
| Resolutory Action | controller : issued new clearance other |
| Consequence | Other |
| Supplementary | |
| Primary Problem | Navigational Facility |
| Air Traffic Incident | other |
| Situations | |
| ATC Facility | procedure or policy : unspecified |
| Navigational Aid | Unspecified |
Narrative:
I experienced a radar outage. I had 4 aircraft in close proximity to the final approach all on radar vectors, 3 of the aircraft were at 3000 ft. Maintenance had been notified earlier on this day about other outages of the radar/beacon system. I will never know whether separation was maintained. As a corrective action, I would like to see maintenance personnel test the equipment during low traffic periods (ie, mid shift) versus when they think they have it fixed. 3 times on this date we experienced radar interruptions due to maintenance attempting to correct, then test.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: RADAR OUTAGE OCCURRED WHILE CTLR HAD 4 ACFT ON FREQ. CTLR IS CRITICAL OF MAINT PERSONNEL QUALITY CHKING AFTER RELEASING EQUIP BACK FOR OP.
Narrative: I EXPERIENCED A RADAR OUTAGE. I HAD 4 ACFT IN CLOSE PROX TO THE FINAL APCH ALL ON RADAR VECTORS, 3 OF THE ACFT WERE AT 3000 FT. MAINT HAD BEEN NOTIFIED EARLIER ON THIS DAY ABOUT OTHER OUTAGES OF THE RADAR/BEACON SYS. I WILL NEVER KNOW WHETHER SEPARATION WAS MAINTAINED. AS A CORRECTIVE ACTION, I WOULD LIKE TO SEE MAINT PERSONNEL TEST THE EQUIP DURING LOW TFC PERIODS (IE, MID SHIFT) VERSUS WHEN THEY THINK THEY HAVE IT FIXED. 3 TIMES ON THIS DATE WE EXPERIENCED RADAR INTERRUPTIONS DUE TO MAINT ATTEMPTING TO CORRECT, THEN TEST.
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.