A commercial power failure at TRACON resulted in an attempt to switch to cenrap radar. Controller ch...

Attributes
ACN	350867
Time
Date	199610
Day	Fri
Local Time Of Day	1801 To 2400
Place
Locale Reference	atc facility : bad
State Reference	LA
Altitude	agl bound lower : 0 agl bound upper : 0
Person 1
Affiliation	government : faa
Function	controller : approach
Qualification	controller : radar
Experience	controller military : 3 controller radar : 21 controller supervisory : 1
ASRS Report	350867
Person 2
Affiliation	government : faa
Function	other personnel other
Qualification	other other : other
Events
Anomaly	other anomaly other
Independent Detector	other controllera
Resolutory Action	none taken : unable
Consequence	Other
Supplementary
Air Traffic Incident	other

Narrative:

The radar approach control (RAPCON) is located on barksdale AFB. A power outage occurred and all power was lost to the building. The backup generator kicked on and was in the process of resetting the radar. Before it had a chance to do so, the controllers quickly went to our 'backup radar' or center radar approach (cenrap), which provides radar coverage only for transponder equipped aircraft. It is much inferior (though better than nothing) to our normal radar. Where they used to be just 1 switch to enable cenrap, there are now 2. The controller enabled both. This disabled our regular radar for 2 hours, because it took this long for the radar technician to correct the problem. No one seems to know what the second switch is for and none of the controllers have been briefed on its use.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A COMMERCIAL PWR FAILURE AT TRACON RESULTED IN AN ATTEMPT TO SWITCH TO CENRAP RADAR. CTLR CHANGED BY ACTIVATING 2 SWITCHES WHICH BROUGHT THE CENRAP SYS ON LINE, BUT FAILED THE TRACON'S RADAR SYS FOR 2 HRS. ALLEGEDLY, THE SECOND SWITCH CAUSED THE PROB. THE SECOND SWITCH HAD BEEN ADDED BUT CTLR'S WERE APPARENTLY NOT BRIEFED ON ITS PURPOSE.

Narrative: THE RADAR APCH CTL (RAPCON) IS LOCATED ON BARKSDALE AFB. A PWR OUTAGE OCCURRED AND ALL PWR WAS LOST TO THE BUILDING. THE BACKUP GENERATOR KICKED ON AND WAS IN THE PROCESS OF RESETTING THE RADAR. BEFORE IT HAD A CHANCE TO DO SO, THE CTLRS QUICKLY WENT TO OUR 'BACKUP RADAR' OR CTR RADAR APCH (CENRAP), WHICH PROVIDES RADAR COVERAGE ONLY FOR XPONDER EQUIPPED ACFT. IT IS MUCH INFERIOR (THOUGH BETTER THAN NOTHING) TO OUR NORMAL RADAR. WHERE THEY USED TO BE JUST 1 SWITCH TO ENABLE CENRAP, THERE ARE NOW 2. THE CTLR ENABLED BOTH. THIS DISABLED OUR REGULAR RADAR FOR 2 HRS, BECAUSE IT TOOK THIS LONG FOR THE RADAR TECHNICIAN TO CORRECT THE PROB. NO ONE SEEMS TO KNOW WHAT THE SECOND SWITCH IS FOR AND NONE OF THE CTLRS HAVE BEEN BRIEFED ON ITS USE.

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.