Controller states that the tower crash phone to the airport fire department is inoperable but not li...

Narrative:

Controller in charge (controller in charge) attempted to perform the daily crash phone check; but airport rescue fire fighting (arff) would not respond. The controller in charge made four attempts before arff responded. Arff was barely heard on the crash phone. The operations manager (OM) was notified; but operations manager said that crash phone had been logged out of service for a while. Crash phone outage was listed on the outage log in the TRACON; not listed on the tower NOTAM/outage log; not listed on the TRACON/tower ids display; not briefed as being out by the midshift controller in charge; and no one from the previous day shift was aware that the crash phone was out of service. Commercial phone number to the arff not posted nearby.callback conversation with reporter revealed the following information: reporter said a ucr has been filed on the outage which has been on going for about two to three weeks. In order to alert the emergency equipment; they have to dial a seven digit number that connects them to another person; possibly the police dispatcher; who in turn connects them to the fire department. The reporter said the TRACON personnel had the outage listed; but not the tower.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: CTLR STATES THAT THE TWR CRASH PHONE TO THE ARPT FIRE DEPT IS INOPERABLE BUT NOT LISTED AS SUCH WITH TWR. A SEVEN DIGIT NUMBER MUST BE DIALED TO A DISPATCHER WHO IN TURN NOTIFIES THE FIRE DEPT.

Narrative: CTLR IN CHARGE (CIC) ATTEMPTED TO PERFORM THE DAILY CRASH PHONE CHK; BUT ARPT RESCUE FIRE FIGHTING (ARFF) WOULD NOT RESPOND. THE CIC MADE FOUR ATTEMPTS BEFORE ARFF RESPONDED. ARFF WAS BARELY HEARD ON THE CRASH PHONE. THE OPERATIONS MANAGER (OM) WAS NOTIFIED; BUT OPS MANAGER SAID THAT CRASH PHONE HAD BEEN LOGGED OUT OF SVC FOR A WHILE. CRASH PHONE OUTAGE WAS LISTED ON THE OUTAGE LOG IN THE TRACON; NOT LISTED ON THE TWR NOTAM/OUTAGE LOG; NOT LISTED ON THE TRACON/TWR IDS DISPLAY; NOT BRIEFED AS BEING OUT BY THE MIDSHIFT CIC; AND NO ONE FROM THE PREVIOUS DAY SHIFT WAS AWARE THAT THE CRASH PHONE WAS OUT OF SVC. COMMERCIAL PHONE NUMBER TO THE ARFF NOT POSTED NEARBY.CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: RPTR SAID A UCR HAS BEEN FILED ON THE OUTAGE WHICH HAS BEEN ON GOING FOR ABOUT TWO TO THREE WEEKS. IN ORDER TO ALERT THE EMER EQUIP; THEY HAVE TO DIAL A SEVEN DIGIT NUMBER THAT CONNECTS THEM TO ANOTHER PERSON; POSSIBLY THE POLICE DISPATCHER; WHO IN TURN CONNECTS THEM TO THE FIRE DEPT. THE RPTR SAID THE TRACON PERSONNEL HAD THE OUTAGE LISTED; BUT NOT THE TWR.

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.

Attributes
ACN	711073
Time
Date	200609
Local Time Of Day	0601 To 1200
Place
Locale Reference	atc facility : zzz.tower
State Reference	US
Environment
Light	Daylight
Person 1
Affiliation	government : faa
Function	controller : local
Qualification	controller : radar
Experience	controller military : 4 controller radar : 18
ASRS Report	711073
Person 2
Affiliation	government : faa
Function	controller : supervisor
Events
Anomaly	other anomaly other
Independent Detector	other controllera
Resolutory Action	none taken : detected after the fact
Supplementary
Problem Areas	ATC Facility
Primary Problem	ATC Facility

Controller states that the tower crash phone to the airport fire department is inoperable but not listed as such with tower. A seven digit number must be dialed to a dispatcher who in turn notifies the fire department.