Controller complaint about an ARTS iia scope that went blank during an ASR approach.

Attributes
ACN	258550
Time
Date	199312
Day	Thu
Local Time Of Day	1801 To 2400
Place
Locale Reference	airport : csg
State Reference	GA
Altitude	msl bound lower : 2400 msl bound upper : 2400
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Night
Aircraft 1
Controlling Facilities	tracon : csg
Operator	general aviation : personal
Make Model Name	Small Aircraft, High Wing, 1 Eng, Fixed Gear
Flight Phase	descent : approach
Route In Use	enroute : on vectors
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Affiliation	government : faa
Function	controller : approach
Qualification	controller : radar
Experience	controller military : 6 controller non radar : 1 controller radar : 9
ASRS Report	258550
Person 2
Affiliation	government : faa
Function	controller : approach
Qualification	controller : radar
Events
Anomaly	other anomaly other
Independent Detector	other controllera
Resolutory Action	none taken : anomaly accepted other
Consequence	Other
Supplementary
Primary Problem	Navigational Facility
Air Traffic Incident	other
Situations
ATC Facility	other physical facility

Narrative:

XB50 pm: 1 radar position (ASR-8) with ARTS iia went completely blank (as if unplugged). No lights, fan etc. ARTS iia keyboard went dark as well. An small aircraft was being vectored (no gyro) for surveillance approach to runway 5. The approach was for proficiency and in very good VMC conditions. At fix in lieu of OM all but radios at this one position went down. Aircraft was handed off to approach momentarily and final controller simply changed to other scope. 10 mins later, scope mysteriously returned with the ARTS functional. Granted, the conditions were optimum for this sort of outage. However, if such an outage occurred at its normal usage (2 sectors of columbus are often combined at this scope), then mayhem would've been the result. The airways facilities technician came and looked immediately before it came back up and said same thing happened 2-3 weeks ago.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: CTLR COMPLAINT ABOUT AN ARTS IIA SCOPE THAT WENT BLANK DURING AN ASR APCH.

Narrative: XB50 PM: 1 RADAR POS (ASR-8) WITH ARTS IIA WENT COMPLETELY BLANK (AS IF UNPLUGGED). NO LIGHTS, FAN ETC. ARTS IIA KEYBOARD WENT DARK AS WELL. AN SMA WAS BEING VECTORED (NO GYRO) FOR SURVEILLANCE APCH TO RWY 5. THE APCH WAS FOR PROFICIENCY AND IN VERY GOOD VMC CONDITIONS. AT FIX IN LIEU OF OM ALL BUT RADIOS AT THIS ONE POS WENT DOWN. ACFT WAS HANDED OFF TO APCH MOMENTARILY AND FINAL CTLR SIMPLY CHANGED TO OTHER SCOPE. 10 MINS LATER, SCOPE MYSTERIOUSLY RETURNED WITH THE ARTS FUNCTIONAL. GRANTED, THE CONDITIONS WERE OPTIMUM FOR THIS SORT OF OUTAGE. HOWEVER, IF SUCH AN OUTAGE OCCURRED AT ITS NORMAL USAGE (2 SECTORS OF COLUMBUS ARE OFTEN COMBINED AT THIS SCOPE), THEN MAYHEM WOULD'VE BEEN THE RESULT. THE AIRWAYS FACILITIES TECHNICIAN CAME AND LOOKED IMMEDIATELY BEFORE IT CAME BACK UP AND SAID SAME THING HAPPENED 2-3 WKS AGO.

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.