TRACON supervisor concerned that there is no alternate telephone company communication trunk lines t...

Narrative:

There have been at least 7 communication failures since jan/thu/98. We discovered, as a result of the down time, that there is only one T-1 line from erie tower to the east erie mci switching station. Estimate the distance to be 6 mi. All land line communication from erie to adjacent air traffic facilities are carried on this line. The norm is a redundant line for back up. This line also carries the primary and back up transceiver for jhw airport, a satellite airport eri controls. This transceiver is used for ATC communications to all low altitude traffic entering the airspace from the east. Due to erie's location, much coordination (land line) is required with cleveland and toronto ctrs, cleveland/buffalo/youngstown approach controls and altoona/buffalo/cleveland FSS. When these outages occur, eri's only method of land line communication is an unrecorded telephone line in the TRACON. There is a ucr filed on this subject. A proposal is currently being recommended for a parallel T-1 line to be installed as a pure redundant setup would be very expensive and entail an exorbitant monthly fee. The parallel T-1 would enable the separation of direct voice call and dial lines and the two satellite transceivers. This would enable continued communication or relay capability when only one line failed.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: TRACON SUPVR CONCERNED THAT THERE IS NO ALTERNATE TELCO COM TRUNK LINES TO ADJOINING CTL FACILITIES. ONLY THE LCL, NON TAPED TELEPHONE LINES ARE AVAILABLE AS BACK UP. ALLEGEDLY, FACILITY HAS INCURRED MULTIPLE COM OUTAGES WHICH DIRECTLY IMPACT ATC OPS. EMPLOYEE UCR FILED.

Narrative: THERE HAVE BEEN AT LEAST 7 COM FAILURES SINCE JAN/THU/98. WE DISCOVERED, AS A RESULT OF THE DOWN TIME, THAT THERE IS ONLY ONE T-1 LINE FROM ERIE TWR TO THE EAST ERIE MCI SWITCHING STATION. ESTIMATE THE DISTANCE TO BE 6 MI. ALL LAND LINE COM FROM ERIE TO ADJACENT AIR TFC FACILITIES ARE CARRIED ON THIS LINE. THE NORM IS A REDUNDANT LINE FOR BACK UP. THIS LINE ALSO CARRIES THE PRIMARY AND BACK UP TRANSCEIVER FOR JHW ARPT, A SATELLITE ARPT ERI CTLS. THIS TRANSCEIVER IS USED FOR ATC COMS TO ALL LOW ALT TFC ENTERING THE AIRSPACE FROM THE E. DUE TO ERIE'S LOCATION, MUCH COORD (LAND LINE) IS REQUIRED WITH CLEVELAND AND TORONTO CTRS, CLEVELAND/BUFFALO/YOUNGSTOWN APCH CTLS AND ALTOONA/BUFFALO/CLEVELAND FSS. WHEN THESE OUTAGES OCCUR, ERI'S ONLY METHOD OF LAND LINE COM IS AN UNRECORDED TELEPHONE LINE IN THE TRACON. THERE IS A UCR FILED ON THIS SUBJECT. A PROPOSAL IS CURRENTLY BEING RECOMMENDED FOR A PARALLEL T-1 LINE TO BE INSTALLED AS A PURE REDUNDANT SETUP WOULD BE VERY EXPENSIVE AND ENTAIL AN EXORBITANT MONTHLY FEE. THE PARALLEL T-1 WOULD ENABLE THE SEPARATION OF DIRECT VOICE CALL AND DIAL LINES AND THE TWO SATELLITE TRANSCEIVERS. THIS WOULD ENABLE CONTINUED COM OR RELAY CAPABILITY WHEN ONLY ONE LINE FAILED.

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.

Attributes
ACN	405265
Time
Date	199806
Day	Fri
Local Time Of Day	0601 To 1200
Place
Locale Reference	atc facility : eri
State Reference	PA
Altitude	agl bound lower : 0 agl bound upper : 0
Person 1
Affiliation	government : faa
Function	oversight : supervisor
Qualification	controller : radar
Experience	controller military : 4 controller non radar : 21 controller radar : 28 controller supervisory : 2
ASRS Report	405265
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	other physical facility procedure or policy : unspecified