Narrative:

I was working the stadium arrival sector at lax for about 1 hour prior to the event occurrence. During this time, all the adjacent sectors were holding aircraft inbound to lax, some for long periods of time. My airspace was saturated the whole hour. Lax was on simultaneous approachs and for this many aircraft to be inbound at the same time during this type of WX conditions is a total traffic management failure. Several out of the ordinary things were also occurring. A B737 inbound straight-in was NORDO just prior to the above event, but caused a change in sequence and a lot of coordination. This while a lot of other important things that were happening. A bur arrival was taken from handoff status to come in. A hole for the aircraft was made by my feeder to the west. This hole was minimum because of the amount of aircraft in his airspace or also inbound. So, because of this, I had to use multiple vectors, speeds and also save altitudes to work this bur arrival into my downwind and to ensure separation. This aircraft was left at 4000 ft to provide separation from the aircraft ahead of him on the downwind. An smo jet arrival from the south to north is inbound. Jets only are routed this way -- all others get vectors around arrival airspace. I have about 9 aircraft on my frequency. Now I have only about 20 mi by 10 mi of airspace. This jet arrival has to be separated from the straight-in traffic and also my downwind traffic and also the aircraft inbound from bur, not to mention the aircraft holding in bur airspace awaiting a sequence. The bur arrival gets a base turn. Stadium arrs during simultaneous approachs need to be at 2500 ft prior to base to vertically separate them from the straight-in's until established on the final. This aircraft was still at 4000 ft and was alongside a straight-in at 4000 ft in and out of the clouds. All handoff and coordination position were open and several supervisors were in the room. Nobody saw this until the conflict alert went off (probably because everybody was saturated and extremely busy). Why are en route aircraft routed through arrival airspace, airspace that is some of the busiest in the country, when there are multiple ways to route said aircraft around? If this aircraft was not in the picture, then much more awareness could and would have been afforded to the other aircraft.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: DURING A COMPLEX TFC SIT, TRACON APCH CTLR DOES NOT DETECT A SEQUENCING CONFLICT BTWN AN E120 AND B767.

Narrative: I WAS WORKING THE STADIUM ARR SECTOR AT LAX FOR ABOUT 1 HR PRIOR TO THE EVENT OCCURRENCE. DURING THIS TIME, ALL THE ADJACENT SECTORS WERE HOLDING ACFT INBOUND TO LAX, SOME FOR LONG PERIODS OF TIME. MY AIRSPACE WAS SATURATED THE WHOLE HR. LAX WAS ON SIMULTANEOUS APCHS AND FOR THIS MANY ACFT TO BE INBOUND AT THE SAME TIME DURING THIS TYPE OF WX CONDITIONS IS A TOTAL TFC MGMNT FAILURE. SEVERAL OUT OF THE ORDINARY THINGS WERE ALSO OCCURRING. A B737 INBOUND STRAIGHT-IN WAS NORDO JUST PRIOR TO THE ABOVE EVENT, BUT CAUSED A CHANGE IN SEQUENCE AND A LOT OF COORD. THIS WHILE A LOT OF OTHER IMPORTANT THINGS THAT WERE HAPPENING. A BUR ARR WAS TAKEN FROM HDOF STATUS TO COME IN. A HOLE FOR THE ACFT WAS MADE BY MY FEEDER TO THE W. THIS HOLE WAS MINIMUM BECAUSE OF THE AMOUNT OF ACFT IN HIS AIRSPACE OR ALSO INBOUND. SO, BECAUSE OF THIS, I HAD TO USE MULTIPLE VECTORS, SPDS AND ALSO SAVE ALTS TO WORK THIS BUR ARR INTO MY DOWNWIND AND TO ENSURE SEPARATION. THIS ACFT WAS LEFT AT 4000 FT TO PROVIDE SEPARATION FROM THE ACFT AHEAD OF HIM ON THE DOWNWIND. AN SMO JET ARR FROM THE S TO N IS INBOUND. JETS ONLY ARE ROUTED THIS WAY -- ALL OTHERS GET VECTORS AROUND ARR AIRSPACE. I HAVE ABOUT 9 ACFT ON MY FREQ. NOW I HAVE ONLY ABOUT 20 MI BY 10 MI OF AIRSPACE. THIS JET ARR HAS TO BE SEPARATED FROM THE STRAIGHT-IN TFC AND ALSO MY DOWNWIND TFC AND ALSO THE ACFT INBOUND FROM BUR, NOT TO MENTION THE ACFT HOLDING IN BUR AIRSPACE AWAITING A SEQUENCE. THE BUR ARR GETS A BASE TURN. STADIUM ARRS DURING SIMULTANEOUS APCHS NEED TO BE AT 2500 FT PRIOR TO BASE TO VERTLY SEPARATE THEM FROM THE STRAIGHT-IN'S UNTIL ESTABLISHED ON THE FINAL. THIS ACFT WAS STILL AT 4000 FT AND WAS ALONGSIDE A STRAIGHT-IN AT 4000 FT IN AND OUT OF THE CLOUDS. ALL HDOF AND COORD POS WERE OPEN AND SEVERAL SUPVRS WERE IN THE ROOM. NOBODY SAW THIS UNTIL THE CONFLICT ALERT WENT OFF (PROBABLY BECAUSE EVERYBODY WAS SATURATED AND EXTREMELY BUSY). WHY ARE ENRTE ACFT ROUTED THROUGH ARR AIRSPACE, AIRSPACE THAT IS SOME OF THE BUSIEST IN THE COUNTRY, WHEN THERE ARE MULTIPLE WAYS TO RTE SAID ACFT AROUND? IF THIS ACFT WAS NOT IN THE PICTURE, THEN MUCH MORE AWARENESS COULD AND WOULD HAVE BEEN AFFORDED TO THE OTHER ACFT.

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.