Reported situation of power failures and the equipment not reverting to generator power.

Attributes
ACN	345498
Time
Date	199608
Day	Mon
Local Time Of Day	0601 To 1200
Place
Locale Reference	airport : nmm
State Reference	MS
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Controlling Facilities	tower : bos
Person 1
Affiliation	government : faa
Function	controller : approach
Qualification	controller : radar
Experience	controller military : 4 controller non radar : 6 controller radar : 6
ASRS Report	345498
Events
Anomaly	other anomaly other
Independent Detector	other controllera
Resolutory Action	none taken : anomaly accepted
Consequence	Other
Supplementary
Air Traffic Incident	other
Situations
Airport	other physical facility procedure or policy : unspecified

Narrative:

Second documented power failure in 4 days. Source of power failure still unk to all technicians. Along with power failure, the equipment is not reverting to generator, resulting in unnecessary radar and radio outage. Generator at radio site never came up on its own. Ecs (loss of all power backup radio system) keeps coming on and knocking all radios off the air. The system is not working properly. Callback conversation with reporter revealed the following information: reporter stated there have been no more power failures or instances in which the equipment generator has been needed. Reporter is uncertain as to whether anything has been done to ensure reliability of the equipment generator. Reporter felt that there may be a communication problem between airways facilities and the navy public works office (civilian workers) as to the understanding of how the equipment generator affects the operations of the TRACON. Reporter stated that the equipment generator supplies power not only to the TRACON but to the entire navy operations building including the control tower.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: RPTED SIT OF PWR FAILURES AND THE EQUIP NOT REVERTING TO GENERATOR PWR.

Narrative: SECOND DOCUMENTED PWR FAILURE IN 4 DAYS. SOURCE OF PWR FAILURE STILL UNK TO ALL TECHNICIANS. ALONG WITH PWR FAILURE, THE EQUIP IS NOT REVERTING TO GENERATOR, RESULTING IN UNNECESSARY RADAR AND RADIO OUTAGE. GENERATOR AT RADIO SITE NEVER CAME UP ON ITS OWN. ECS (LOSS OF ALL PWR BACKUP RADIO SYS) KEEPS COMING ON AND KNOCKING ALL RADIOS OFF THE AIR. THE SYS IS NOT WORKING PROPERLY. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: RPTR STATED THERE HAVE BEEN NO MORE PWR FAILURES OR INSTANCES IN WHICH THE EQUIP GENERATOR HAS BEEN NEEDED. RPTR IS UNCERTAIN AS TO WHETHER ANYTHING HAS BEEN DONE TO ENSURE RELIABILITY OF THE EQUIP GENERATOR. RPTR FELT THAT THERE MAY BE A COM PROB BTWN AIRWAYS FACILITIES AND THE NAVY PUBLIC WORKS OFFICE (CIVILIAN WORKERS) AS TO THE UNDERSTANDING OF HOW THE EQUIP GENERATOR AFFECTS THE OPS OF THE TRACON. RPTR STATED THAT THE EQUIP GENERATOR SUPPLIES PWR NOT ONLY TO THE TRACON BUT TO THE ENTIRE NAVY OPS BUILDING INCLUDING THE CTL TWR.

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.