ZME controller expressed concern regarding recurring equipment failures and lack of procedures cover...

Attributes
ACN	725349
Time
Date	200701
Local Time Of Day	0601 To 1200
Place
Locale Reference	atc facility : zme.artcc
State Reference	TN
Altitude	msl bound lower : 19600 msl bound upper : 22000
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Controlling Facilities	artcc : zme.artcc
Make Model Name	Baron 58/58TC
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Aircraft 2
Controlling Facilities	artcc : zme.artcc
Make Model Name	Gulfstream V
Person 1
Affiliation	government : faa
Function	controller : radar
Experience	controller limited radar : 23 controller non radar : 24 controller radar : 23 controller time certified in position1 : 23
ASRS Report	725349
Person 2
Function	flight crew : single pilot
Events
Anomaly	conflict : airborne less severe
Independent Detector	other controllera
Resolutory Action	none taken : anomaly accepted
Miss Distance	horizontal : 30000 vertical : 1000
Supplementary
Problem Areas	Navigational Facility FAA
Primary Problem	FAA
Situations
ATC Facility	procedure or policy : zme.artcc

Narrative:

Qmn (newport; ms) radar is out of service from XA00-XI00. Mcb (mccomb; ms) VOR is out of service/restricted use. Igb (bigbee; ms) VORTAC is unusable 200-260 radials below 5;000. This is a recurrent issue. There are no alternative meas on the airways that transition from igb or mcb. There are no non-radar procedures in the jan (jackson; ms) approach control/memphis center (ZME) letter of agreement (LOA). No procedures are in place to provide safe and expeditious control of air traffic in the jackson; ms; area when the qnm radar is out of service. This issue has been addressed numerous times over then years; but no action has been taken due to the fact nothing has gone wrong. Albuquerque center (ZAB) has these alternate meas depicted on index cards that are brought to the sectors impacted by the NAVAID outage. No additional staffing was utilized to supplement for this scheduled outage; which has occurred numerous times over the past month.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: ZME CTLR EXPRESSED CONCERN REGARDING RECURRING EQUIP FAILURES AND LACK OF PROCS COVERING THESE ISSUES.

Narrative: QMN (NEWPORT; MS) RADAR IS OUT OF SERVICE FROM XA00-XI00. MCB (MCCOMB; MS) VOR IS OUT OF SERVICE/RESTRICTED USE. IGB (BIGBEE; MS) VORTAC IS UNUSABLE 200-260 RADIALS BELOW 5;000. THIS IS A RECURRENT ISSUE. THERE ARE NO ALTERNATIVE MEAS ON THE AIRWAYS THAT TRANSITION FROM IGB OR MCB. THERE ARE NO NON-RADAR PROCEDURES IN THE JAN (JACKSON; MS) APPROACH CONTROL/MEMPHIS CENTER (ZME) LETTER OF AGREEMENT (LOA). NO PROCEDURES ARE IN PLACE TO PROVIDE SAFE AND EXPEDITIOUS CONTROL OF AIR TRAFFIC IN THE JACKSON; MS; AREA WHEN THE QNM RADAR IS OUT OF SERVICE. THIS ISSUE HAS BEEN ADDRESSED NUMEROUS TIMES OVER THEN YEARS; BUT NO ACTION HAS BEEN TAKEN DUE TO THE FACT NOTHING HAS GONE WRONG. ALBUQUERQUE CENTER (ZAB) HAS THESE ALTERNATE MEAS DEPICTED ON INDEX CARDS THAT ARE BROUGHT TO THE SECTORS IMPACTED BY THE NAVAID OUTAGE. NO ADDITIONAL STAFFING WAS UTILIZED TO SUPPLEMENT FOR THIS SCHEDULED OUTAGE; WHICH HAS OCCURRED NUMEROUS TIMES OVER THE PAST MONTH.

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.

ZME controller expressed concern regarding recurring equipment failures and lack of procedures covering these issues.