Narrative:

WX stretched from north of abilene to kansas with a small hole around childers (cos). The east to west traffic, normally routed through ZKC and the north sectors of ZFW were going through this hole. It was apparent this hole was closing but nothing was done to alleviate the problems it would cause. The aircraft would soon deviate down into my airspace which was already working unusual ew traffic from abilene to dfw and points ew. So, we were essentially getting 2 sets of deviating traffic head-on...all pointed at the same area (30 mi north of abi). Additionally, there were other overflts that were heading our way, and we were still receiving dfw departures heading west over abi. We had to enter reroutes in the computer, that is, if we had the strips to know where they were going. All the while, pilots were inquiring about routes, ride reports, altitude requests, etc. During this unfortunate episode, we told dfw to give us 15 mi in trail on departures so we would have a fighting chance. They did not comply and our tmu obviously did not make them comply, so we shut off departures. In my opinion, we had little to no help from tmu and the management on duty. A few easy solutions would have made the situation less dangerous, and it was the most dangerous situation I've seen in over 5 yrs. 1)capping the dfw departures in low altitude until they got west of abi. 2) moving the ew traffic routed over abi south so they would not conflict with the deviating aircraft and overflts. 3) having adjacent sectors try to keep some of the aircraft in low altitude or routed around.

Related reports:

Google
 

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: AFTER ASKING FOR TFC FLOW RESTRS FOR D10 DEP ACFT, ZFW CTLR INITIATES SHUT OFF RESTRS IN ORDER TO MAINTAIN FLEXIBILITY TO MANAGE OTHER ENRTE ACFT DEVIATING DUE TO WX.

Narrative: WX STRETCHED FROM N OF ABILENE TO KANSAS WITH A SMALL HOLE AROUND CHILDERS (COS). THE E TO W TFC, NORMALLY ROUTED THROUGH ZKC AND THE N SECTORS OF ZFW WERE GOING THROUGH THIS HOLE. IT WAS APPARENT THIS HOLE WAS CLOSING BUT NOTHING WAS DONE TO ALLEVIATE THE PROBS IT WOULD CAUSE. THE ACFT WOULD SOON DEVIATE DOWN INTO MY AIRSPACE WHICH WAS ALREADY WORKING UNUSUAL EW TFC FROM ABILENE TO DFW AND POINTS EW. SO, WE WERE ESSENTIALLY GETTING 2 SETS OF DEVIATING TFC HEAD-ON...ALL POINTED AT THE SAME AREA (30 MI N OF ABI). ADDITIONALLY, THERE WERE OTHER OVERFLTS THAT WERE HEADING OUR WAY, AND WE WERE STILL RECEIVING DFW DEPS HEADING W OVER ABI. WE HAD TO ENTER REROUTES IN THE COMPUTER, THAT IS, IF WE HAD THE STRIPS TO KNOW WHERE THEY WERE GOING. ALL THE WHILE, PLTS WERE INQUIRING ABOUT ROUTES, RIDE RPTS, ALT REQUESTS, ETC. DURING THIS UNFORTUNATE EPISODE, WE TOLD DFW TO GIVE US 15 MI IN TRAIL ON DEPS SO WE WOULD HAVE A FIGHTING CHANCE. THEY DID NOT COMPLY AND OUR TMU OBVIOUSLY DID NOT MAKE THEM COMPLY, SO WE SHUT OFF DEPS. IN MY OPINION, WE HAD LITTLE TO NO HELP FROM TMU AND THE MGMNT ON DUTY. A FEW EASY SOLUTIONS WOULD HAVE MADE THE SIT LESS DANGEROUS, AND IT WAS THE MOST DANGEROUS SIT I'VE SEEN IN OVER 5 YRS. 1)CAPPING THE DFW DEPS IN LOW ALT UNTIL THEY GOT W OF ABI. 2) MOVING THE EW TFC ROUTED OVER ABI S SO THEY WOULD NOT CONFLICT WITH THE DEVIATING ACFT AND OVERFLTS. 3) HAVING ADJACENT SECTORS TRY TO KEEP SOME OF THE ACFT IN LOW ALT OR ROUTED AROUND.

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.