Narrative:

Phl airport has ship spotters that monitor ship traffic on the delaware river. They are supposed to call in advance to notify us of large ships that will pass under the runway 35 final approach course. The approach control supervisor then determines the last runway 35 arrival. Once ship clears (another call by ship spotters) arrival traffic resumes to the runway. Today; a very busy arrival session (intersecting runway arrs; flight check; ramp construction; etc); I looked to see CRJ200 directly over a large ship that was heading east; up the river. The tower did not receive any calls about a ship and it was too late to take action. The tower supervisor stated he was never notified. However; mins later the final vector 2 sector called to check on ship status. Someone downstairs got the call; but failed to pass on the information.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: PHL LCL CTLR VOICED CONCERN REGARDING FAILURE OF COORD BETWEEN SUPVRS IN TRACON/TOWER REGARDING CHANNEL SHIP MOVEMENTS.

Narrative: PHL ARPT HAS SHIP SPOTTERS THAT MONITOR SHIP TFC ON THE DELAWARE RIVER. THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO CALL IN ADVANCE TO NOTIFY US OF LARGE SHIPS THAT WILL PASS UNDER THE RWY 35 FINAL APCH COURSE. THE APCH CTL SUPVR THEN DETERMINES THE LAST RWY 35 ARR. ONCE SHIP CLRS (ANOTHER CALL BY SHIP SPOTTERS) ARR TFC RESUMES TO THE RWY. TODAY; A VERY BUSY ARR SESSION (INTERSECTING RWY ARRS; FLT CHK; RAMP CONSTRUCTION; ETC); I LOOKED TO SEE CRJ200 DIRECTLY OVER A LARGE SHIP THAT WAS HEADING E; UP THE RIVER. THE TWR DID NOT RECEIVE ANY CALLS ABOUT A SHIP AND IT WAS TOO LATE TO TAKE ACTION. THE TWR SUPVR STATED HE WAS NEVER NOTIFIED. HOWEVER; MINS LATER THE FINAL VECTOR 2 SECTOR CALLED TO CHK ON SHIP STATUS. SOMEONE DOWNSTAIRS GOT THE CALL; BUT FAILED TO PASS ON THE INFO.

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.