Eri approach controller incurs numerous equipment failures, later tracked to high capacity line fail...

Attributes
ACN	439867
Time
Date	199906
Day	Mon
Local Time Of Day	1801 To 2400
Place
Locale Reference	atc facility : eri.tracon
State Reference	PA
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Person 1
Affiliation	government : faa
Function	controller : approach
Qualification	controller : radar
Experience	controller limited radar : 2 controller military : 4 controller non radar : 22 controller radar : 27 controller supervisory : 2
ASRS Report	739867
Events
Anomaly	other anomaly other other spatial deviation
Independent Detector	atc equipment other atc equipment : fd10/lnd lines/transceivera other controllera
Resolutory Action	controller : issued new clearance flight crew : exited adverse environment flight crew : took precautionary avoidance action
Consequence	faa : investigated
Supplementary
Problem Areas	Airspace Structure FAA ATC Human Performance ATC Facility
Primary Problem	ATC Facility
Air Traffic Incident	Intra Facility Coordination Failure Inter Facility Coordination Failure
Situations
ATC Facility	communication equipment : eri.tracon other physical facility

Narrative:

At XA14 EDT the interface with ZOB failed. We were unable to issue or receive radar handoffs. Fdio (flight data input/output) was OTS. All landing communication (handoff lines) except the outside commercial telephone was OTS. Jamestown airport (jhw) remote transceivers failed also. This outage lasted for 13 mins. System were returned to normal at XA55 EDT another failure occurred involving the same outages (as above noted). This scenario continued through the evening until XD00 EDT. A total of 9 different outages occurred creating havoc to the local air traffic operation. ATC clrncs had to be manually processed via outside telephone company lines. Several high performance aircraft departing satellite fields, fortunately, were able to climb VFR and contact ZOB for their IFR clrncs. Numerous arrival, departure and en route delays resulted from these outages. The problem was idented as a high capacity line problem.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: ERI APCH CTLR INCURS NUMEROUS EQUIP FAILURES, LATER TRACKED TO HIGH CAPACITY LINE FAILURE.

Narrative: AT XA14 EDT THE INTERFACE WITH ZOB FAILED. WE WERE UNABLE TO ISSUE OR RECEIVE RADAR HDOFS. FDIO (FLT DATA INPUT/OUTPUT) WAS OTS. ALL LNDG COM (HDOF LINES) EXCEPT THE OUTSIDE COMMERCIAL TELEPHONE WAS OTS. JAMESTOWN ARPT (JHW) REMOTE TRANSCEIVERS FAILED ALSO. THIS OUTAGE LASTED FOR 13 MINS. SYS WERE RETURNED TO NORMAL AT XA55 EDT ANOTHER FAILURE OCCURRED INVOLVING THE SAME OUTAGES (AS ABOVE NOTED). THIS SCENARIO CONTINUED THROUGH THE EVENING UNTIL XD00 EDT. A TOTAL OF 9 DIFFERENT OUTAGES OCCURRED CREATING HAVOC TO THE LCL AIR TFC OP. ATC CLRNCS HAD TO BE MANUALLY PROCESSED VIA OUTSIDE TELCO LINES. SEVERAL HIGH PERFORMANCE ACFT DEPARTING SATELLITE FIELDS, FORTUNATELY, WERE ABLE TO CLB VFR AND CONTACT ZOB FOR THEIR IFR CLRNCS. NUMEROUS ARR, DEP AND ENRTE DELAYS RESULTED FROM THESE OUTAGES. THE PROB WAS IDENTED AS A HIGH CAPACITY LINE PROB.

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.

Eri approach controller incurs numerous equipment failures, later tracked to high capacity line failure.