ARTCC controller concerned with NAVAID maintenance release timing during heavy traffic periods. Repo...

Attributes
ACN	397367
Time
Date	199801
Day	Thu
Local Time Of Day	1201 To 1800
Place
Locale Reference	atc facility : txk
State Reference	AR
Altitude	agl bound lower : 0 agl bound upper : 0
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Controlling Facilities	artcc : zfw
Navigation In Use	other vortac
Person 1
Affiliation	government : faa
Function	controller : radar
Qualification	controller : radar
Experience	controller non radar : 14 controller radar : 12
ASRS Report	397367
Events
Anomaly	other anomaly other
Independent Detector	other controllera
Resolutory Action	other
Consequence	Other
Supplementary
Primary Problem	ATC Human Performance
Air Traffic Incident	other
Situations
ATC Facility	procedure or policy : unspecified
Navigational Aid	Unspecified

Narrative:

See the attached ucr for the description of the problem and the management response letters. Basically I agree that navaids should be released for scheduled maintenance. What I have a big problem with is the timing of the outage. Again, I state, 'scheduled maintenance should be scheduled for periods of light traffic, not for the heaviest traffic period of the day!' after reading the responses to my ucr, I feel that the NASA report process is the only way to express any problems and get them to an 'outside' party's database. I don't know if NASA can do anything about this type of decision making that is going on in the FAA, but it is nice to know that if anything happens because of these types of decisions, that there is a record of these problems in an outside agency. The txk VORTAC was released for maintenance from XA00-XB00 CST on jan/thu/98. The dal SID route over txk is the busiest of 4 major eastbound departure rtes from the dfw terminal area. The time period XA00-XB00 is the busiest departure rush of the day for aircraft overflying txk on the dal SID. As this was scheduled maintenance, this should have been scheduled for a period of 'light traffic,' not when the sector above txk is always 'red' due to traffic volume!

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: ARTCC CTLR CONCERNED WITH NAVAID MAINT RELEASE TIMING DURING HVY TFC PERIODS. RPTR CITES FILED UCR TO SUPPORT HIS CONCERNS.

Narrative: SEE THE ATTACHED UCR FOR THE DESCRIPTION OF THE PROB AND THE MGMNT RESPONSE LETTERS. BASICALLY I AGREE THAT NAVAIDS SHOULD BE RELEASED FOR SCHEDULED MAINT. WHAT I HAVE A BIG PROB WITH IS THE TIMING OF THE OUTAGE. AGAIN, I STATE, 'SCHEDULED MAINT SHOULD BE SCHEDULED FOR PERIODS OF LIGHT TFC, NOT FOR THE HEAVIEST TFC PERIOD OF THE DAY!' AFTER READING THE RESPONSES TO MY UCR, I FEEL THAT THE NASA RPT PROCESS IS THE ONLY WAY TO EXPRESS ANY PROBS AND GET THEM TO AN 'OUTSIDE' PARTY'S DATABASE. I DON'T KNOW IF NASA CAN DO ANYTHING ABOUT THIS TYPE OF DECISION MAKING THAT IS GOING ON IN THE FAA, BUT IT IS NICE TO KNOW THAT IF ANYTHING HAPPENS BECAUSE OF THESE TYPES OF DECISIONS, THAT THERE IS A RECORD OF THESE PROBS IN AN OUTSIDE AGENCY. THE TXK VORTAC WAS RELEASED FOR MAINT FROM XA00-XB00 CST ON JAN/THU/98. THE DAL SID RTE OVER TXK IS THE BUSIEST OF 4 MAJOR EBOUND DEP RTES FROM THE DFW TERMINAL AREA. THE TIME PERIOD XA00-XB00 IS THE BUSIEST DEP RUSH OF THE DAY FOR ACFT OVERFLYING TXK ON THE DAL SID. AS THIS WAS SCHEDULED MAINT, THIS SHOULD HAVE BEEN SCHEDULED FOR A PERIOD OF 'LIGHT TFC,' NOT WHEN THE SECTOR ABOVE TXK IS ALWAYS 'RED' DUE TO TFC VOLUME!

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.

ARTCC controller concerned with NAVAID maintenance release timing during heavy traffic periods. Reporter cites filed ucr to support his concerns.