Narrative:

The den airport was heavily impacted by slow moving; fast building thunderstorms; affecting all 4 arrival gates. This was a very busy time for den arrival traffic. The situation I'm addressing concerns the northwest and northeast arrival gates. The first gate to close was the northwest gate. This prompted ZDV traffic management unit to rerte approximately 10 den arrs to the northeast arrival gate; where there was already significant WX and thunderstorm activity. The line of WX had built west of denver; growing north and west. En route to the northeast gate; several aircraft advised controllers they did not want to proceed because that's where the worst of the WX was. This information was relayed to tmu; it was apparently ignored. The 10 arrs reached the northeast gate only to hold as the WX continued to build; and closed the northeast gate. Now all the arrs holding northeast of den were basically trapped by the WX. Tmu's plan was to route them back to the northwest gate (where many had just come from). Several aircraft had to divert to alternate airports because of fuel issues. All sectors involved in these rertes were extremely busy. The problem: poor planning; forecasting; lack of coordination; failure to utilize available resources. Caused ZDV tmu to make extremely bad decisions regarding the den traffic. This created an unsafe situation for both controllers and pilots in addition to the massive amount of time and fuel wasted by the airlines involved.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: ZDV CTLR QUESTIONS TFC MGMNT ACTIONS FOR DEN ARR ACFT DURING FREQUENTLY CHANGING WX CONDITIONS.

Narrative: THE DEN ARPT WAS HEAVILY IMPACTED BY SLOW MOVING; FAST BUILDING TSTMS; AFFECTING ALL 4 ARR GATES. THIS WAS A VERY BUSY TIME FOR DEN ARR TFC. THE SITUATION I'M ADDRESSING CONCERNS THE NW AND NE ARR GATES. THE FIRST GATE TO CLOSE WAS THE NW GATE. THIS PROMPTED ZDV TFC MGMNT UNIT TO RERTE APPROX 10 DEN ARRS TO THE NE ARR GATE; WHERE THERE WAS ALREADY SIGNIFICANT WX AND TSTM ACTIVITY. THE LINE OF WX HAD BUILT W OF DENVER; GROWING N AND W. ENRTE TO THE NE GATE; SEVERAL ACFT ADVISED CTLRS THEY DID NOT WANT TO PROCEED BECAUSE THAT'S WHERE THE WORST OF THE WX WAS. THIS INFO WAS RELAYED TO TMU; IT WAS APPARENTLY IGNORED. THE 10 ARRS REACHED THE NE GATE ONLY TO HOLD AS THE WX CONTINUED TO BUILD; AND CLOSED THE NE GATE. NOW ALL THE ARRS HOLDING NE OF DEN WERE BASICALLY TRAPPED BY THE WX. TMU'S PLAN WAS TO RTE THEM BACK TO THE NW GATE (WHERE MANY HAD JUST COME FROM). SEVERAL ACFT HAD TO DIVERT TO ALTERNATE ARPTS BECAUSE OF FUEL ISSUES. ALL SECTORS INVOLVED IN THESE RERTES WERE EXTREMELY BUSY. THE PROB: POOR PLANNING; FORECASTING; LACK OF COORD; FAILURE TO UTILIZE AVAILABLE RESOURCES. CAUSED ZDV TMU TO MAKE EXTREMELY BAD DECISIONS REGARDING THE DEN TFC. THIS CREATED AN UNSAFE SITUATION FOR BOTH CTLRS AND PLTS IN ADDITION TO THE MASSIVE AMOUNT OF TIME AND FUEL WASTED BY THE AIRLINES INVOLVED.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of January 2009 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.