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Reported situation of complete rdvs failure. Redundant system did not work as jacks were improperly wired and unlabeled.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 358672 |
| Time | |
| Date | 199701 |
| Day | Mon |
| Local Time Of Day | 0601 To 1200 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | atc facility : bhm |
| State Reference | AL |
| Environment | |
| Flight Conditions | VMC |
| Light | Daylight |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Controlling Facilities | tower : bet |
| Person 1 | |
| Affiliation | government : faa |
| Function | controller : approach |
| Qualification | controller : radar |
| Experience | controller non radar : 7 controller radar : 6 |
| ASRS Report | 358672 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | other anomaly other |
| Independent Detector | other controllera |
| Resolutory Action | none taken : detected after the fact |
| Consequence | Other |
| Supplementary | |
| Air Traffic Incident | other |
Narrative:
We experienced a total failure of rdvs communication system. All redundancies failed. We are currently operating on one spare 'card' -- no replacements for awhile. Ucr filed. Controllers operating under article U5 tfn. Redundant system (jacks) were improperly wired and unlabeled. This added to confusion of event. Callback conversation with reporter revealed the following information: reporter stated there haven't been any more complete rdvs (digital voice system) failures, only partial position failures which occur about 1 or 2 times a day. Reporter indicated that prior to being rewired and labeled, the redundant system jacks were wired with the wrong frequencys. Reporter said that the backup gonset would not work in the TRACON but did work on ground control and on local control with a range limitation of about 5 mi. Reporter was told that new tunable gonsets were on the way but indicated that that has been said before.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: RPTED SIT OF COMPLETE RDVS FAILURE. REDUNDANT SYS DID NOT WORK AS JACKS WERE IMPROPERLY WIRED AND UNLABELED.
Narrative: WE EXPERIENCED A TOTAL FAILURE OF RDVS COM SYS. ALL REDUNDANCIES FAILED. WE ARE CURRENTLY OPERATING ON ONE SPARE 'CARD' -- NO REPLACEMENTS FOR AWHILE. UCR FILED. CTLRS OPERATING UNDER ARTICLE U5 TFN. REDUNDANT SYS (JACKS) WERE IMPROPERLY WIRED AND UNLABELED. THIS ADDED TO CONFUSION OF EVENT. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: RPTR STATED THERE HAVEN'T BEEN ANY MORE COMPLETE RDVS (DIGITAL VOICE SYS) FAILURES, ONLY PARTIAL POS FAILURES WHICH OCCUR ABOUT 1 OR 2 TIMES A DAY. RPTR INDICATED THAT PRIOR TO BEING REWIRED AND LABELED, THE REDUNDANT SYS JACKS WERE WIRED WITH THE WRONG FREQS. RPTR SAID THAT THE BACKUP GONSET WOULD NOT WORK IN THE TRACON BUT DID WORK ON GND CTL AND ON LCL CTL WITH A RANGE LIMITATION OF ABOUT 5 MI. RPTR WAS TOLD THAT NEW TUNABLE GONSETS WERE ON THE WAY BUT INDICATED THAT THAT HAS BEEN SAID BEFORE.
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.