Narrative:

I was working sector 43; I had normal traffic with no conflictions. With 4 aircraft on the same path within about 20 miles of each other going towards the same fix. I was using altitude to keep them separated and had no issues between airplanes. I thought I started hand off status on all 4 aircraft; and continued to switch the aircraft in order to the next sector's frequency. About 8 miles into sector 31's airspace; air carrier X would not drop off my scope; and I was curious why; when I realized I still had control of the data block. Unknowing if they had the hand off or not; I called to verify they had radar contact on air carrier X; they replied in the affirmative and I then dropped the data block from my scope. I was pretty certain; they had radar on air carrier X before I had him switch frequencies. I verified the aircraft was no long on my frequency and it wasn't. So then I called them to verify they were talking to air carrier X; they replied in the affirmative. Recommendation; before switching frequencies of an aircraft I should be more careful to be sure the next sector has radar contact; and be careful not to have an airspace violation. I am curious as to why sector 31; who was training the r-side; (right and D combined); never questioned when air carrier X checked on their frequency. They didn't wonder who the aircraft was; or where air carrier X was; I don't know why they didn't try to find out the answers to these questions; but in the end; there was no further problems with the aircraft; so we moved on to normal procedures.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: ZOA Controller described airspace incursion event when they failed to make an appropriate hand off to an adjacent sector; but did issue a frequency transfer.

Narrative: I was working sector 43; I had normal traffic with no conflictions. With 4 aircraft on the same path within about 20 miles of each other going towards the same fix. I was using altitude to keep them separated and had no issues between airplanes. I thought I started hand off status on all 4 aircraft; and continued to switch the aircraft in order to the next sector's frequency. About 8 miles into sector 31's airspace; Air Carrier X would not drop off my scope; and I was curious why; when I realized I still had control of the data block. Unknowing if they had the hand off or not; I called to verify they had RADAR contact on Air Carrier X; they replied in the affirmative and I then dropped the data block from my scope. I was pretty certain; they had radar on Air Carrier X before I had him switch frequencies. I verified the aircraft was no long on my frequency and it wasn't. So then I called them to verify they were talking to Air Carrier X; they replied in the affirmative. Recommendation; before switching frequencies of an aircraft I should be more careful to be sure the next sector has radar contact; and be careful not to have an airspace violation. I am curious as to why sector 31; who was training the R-side; (R and D combined); never questioned when Air Carrier X checked on their frequency. They didn't wonder who the aircraft was; or where Air Carrier X was; I don't know why they didn't try to find out the answers to these questions; but in the end; there was no further problems with the aircraft; so we moved on to normal procedures.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.