Narrative:

This is a persistent problem here at phl approach. During a rather significant arrival bank city of philadelphia; tall ship spotters attempted to call the watch supervisor to inform us that a tall ship was to pass by the airport preventing runway 35 arrs. The city of philadelphia representative could not get through as the watch desk phone was busy. The city official finally called the tower controller in charge and told him that the ship was 'abeam the ramp' and this was the 10 min call. The tower controller in charge called the tmu specialist to pass the information to the watch supervisor. Once that information was disseminated the floor supervisor told the final vector 2 position 'no more arrs; run what you have;' which turned out to be a bad call. The tower ended up canceling the approach clearance or choosing to keep that aircraft overhead for a visual approach to runway 26. I; as the final controller; started receiving handoffs on all the aircraft that were supposed to go to runway 35 stacked under the normal runway 27R and runway 26 arrs. This was a completely unsafe situation as I had double the amount of aircraft I should have in that short amount of space. On top of that I had to provide the local controller additional room for the aircraft that they were keeping overhead for runway 26. It is important to note that the tall ship procedure here at phl is a complete farce. More often than not; our tall ship notifications are completely inaccurate; and those inaccuracies quite often create similar situations where traffic brought in for runway 35 is dumped on the final controller to sort out and clear to the primary runway along with the normal traffic flow that is there. Once again today the tall ship notification was poorly coordination; the information that management received was improperly disseminated to the actual controllers working the position; and we; the controllers; again made the entire situation work again by 'winging it' on the fly. There has got to be a better way.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: PHL TRACON CTLR DESCRIBES INCIDENT WHEN ARPT AND PORT COORD REGARDING SHIP MOVEMENTS WERE DELAYED BECAUSE THE TRACON PHONE WAS BUSY.

Narrative: THIS IS A PERSISTENT PROB HERE AT PHL APCH. DURING A RATHER SIGNIFICANT ARR BANK CITY OF PHILADELPHIA; TALL SHIP SPOTTERS ATTEMPTED TO CALL THE WATCH SUPVR TO INFORM US THAT A TALL SHIP WAS TO PASS BY THE ARPT PREVENTING RWY 35 ARRS. THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA REPRESENTATIVE COULD NOT GET THROUGH AS THE WATCH DESK PHONE WAS BUSY. THE CITY OFFICIAL FINALLY CALLED THE TWR CIC AND TOLD HIM THAT THE SHIP WAS 'ABEAM THE RAMP' AND THIS WAS THE 10 MIN CALL. THE TWR CIC CALLED THE TMU SPECIALIST TO PASS THE INFO TO THE WATCH SUPVR. ONCE THAT INFO WAS DISSEMINATED THE FLOOR SUPVR TOLD THE FINAL VECTOR 2 POS 'NO MORE ARRS; RUN WHAT YOU HAVE;' WHICH TURNED OUT TO BE A BAD CALL. THE TWR ENDED UP CANCELING THE APCH CLRNC OR CHOOSING TO KEEP THAT ACFT OVERHEAD FOR A VISUAL APCH TO RWY 26. I; AS THE FINAL CTLR; STARTED RECEIVING HDOFS ON ALL THE ACFT THAT WERE SUPPOSED TO GO TO RWY 35 STACKED UNDER THE NORMAL RWY 27R AND RWY 26 ARRS. THIS WAS A COMPLETELY UNSAFE SITUATION AS I HAD DOUBLE THE AMOUNT OF ACFT I SHOULD HAVE IN THAT SHORT AMOUNT OF SPACE. ON TOP OF THAT I HAD TO PROVIDE THE LCL CTLR ADDITIONAL ROOM FOR THE ACFT THAT THEY WERE KEEPING OVERHEAD FOR RWY 26. IT IS IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT THE TALL SHIP PROC HERE AT PHL IS A COMPLETE FARCE. MORE OFTEN THAN NOT; OUR TALL SHIP NOTIFICATIONS ARE COMPLETELY INACCURATE; AND THOSE INACCURACIES QUITE OFTEN CREATE SIMILAR SITUATIONS WHERE TFC BROUGHT IN FOR RWY 35 IS DUMPED ON THE FINAL CTLR TO SORT OUT AND CLR TO THE PRIMARY RWY ALONG WITH THE NORMAL TFC FLOW THAT IS THERE. ONCE AGAIN TODAY THE TALL SHIP NOTIFICATION WAS POORLY COORD; THE INFO THAT MGMNT RECEIVED WAS IMPROPERLY DISSEMINATED TO THE ACTUAL CTLRS WORKING THE POS; AND WE; THE CTLRS; AGAIN MADE THE ENTIRE SITUATION WORK AGAIN BY 'WINGING IT' ON THE FLY. THERE HAS GOT TO BE A BETTER WAY.

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.