Narrative:

I was working the radar position at the cambridge sector of ZBW. It is a high altitude sector; with altitudes from flight level 240 and above. I had just relieved another controller and one of the key items in the briefing was the military air refueling track AR631. Two aircraft were refueling. Flight X(tanker) was the flight lead and flight Y was a flight of two fighters that were conducting refueling operations with the tanker. Flight X came up on my frequency and advised me that the refueling mission was complete and he wanted to return back to base. At this time flight X and flight Y were still a joined flight; with an altitude block of fl240b260. I asked flight X to say altitude and his response was 'FL250'. I replied 'flight X; roger. Maintain flight level 250'. I also instructed flight X to have flight Y come up on my frequency on his previous beacon code and that he could expect his clearance back to base shortly. After about a minute of attending to other matters in the sector; I realized that flight Y had not yet checked in. I asked flight X what altitude would flight Y be at; and his response was that flight Y would be at the bottom of the block; flight level 240. I told flight X that flight Y had not yet checked in and asked him once more if he could get in contact with him and have flight Y come up on my frequency. After several tries; flight X advised me that he was unable to get in contact with flight Y. I observed flight Y beneath the tanker; begin to head north towards his next military operating area that he was flight planned for. I told my supervisor of the events that were unfolding and he proceeded to see if he could get in contact with flight Y via the guard frequency 121.5. All manners of getting into contact with flight Y failed. My d-side at the time coordinated flight Y entering the next sector's airspace with the knowledge that we were still not in contact with this flight; and that the last known altitude that was assigned was the block altitude fl240b260. Flight X and flight Y were approximately 30 to 40 miles apart when I declared that marsa was terminated; and cleared flight X back to base via as previously cleared and to maintain flight level 250. It was at this time that I saw flight Y's data tag altitudes change and reflect the altitudes of the MOA in which he was operating in. Flight Y had come up on the next sector's frequency and eventually conducted their military operations for that area. Flight Y exited the refueling block without marsa being terminated and entered the new military operating area without a clearance due to the fact that we were unable to raise him on any frequency; including the tanker frequency via flight X. Flight Y also descended below the block altitude he was last assigned as he began to pull away from the tanker; with the lowest altitude I saw being FL225 for no more than 30 seconds. The sector beneath my airspace; concord/gardner; also saw flight Y's altitudes and did not have any traffic in the area. Recommendation; these pilots should have been well aware of their responsibilities in conducting marsa operations while refueling and know that they cannot be cleared into a new military operating area without a clearance. The fact that they were off frequency the entire time and went below the block altitude that they were assigned is absolutely unsafe and should have never happened.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: ZBW controllers describe refueling event that included MARSA separation procedures; alleging some of the military participants failed to adhere to published requirements regarding MARSA operations.

Narrative: I was working the RADAR position at the Cambridge sector of ZBW. It is a high altitude sector; with altitudes from flight level 240 and above. I had just relieved another Controller and one of the key items in the briefing was the military air refueling track AR631. Two aircraft were refueling. Flight X(Tanker) was the flight lead and Flight Y was a flight of two fighters that were conducting refueling operations with the tanker. Flight X came up on my frequency and advised me that the refueling mission was complete and he wanted to return back to base. At this time Flight X and Flight Y were still a joined flight; with an altitude block of FL240B260. I asked Flight X to say altitude and his response was 'FL250'. I replied 'Flight X; Roger. Maintain flight level 250'. I also instructed Flight X to have Flight Y come up on my frequency on his previous beacon code and that he could expect his clearance back to base shortly. After about a minute of attending to other matters in the sector; I realized that Flight Y had not yet checked in. I asked Flight X what altitude would Flight Y be at; and his response was that Flight Y would be at the bottom of the block; flight level 240. I told Flight X that Flight Y had not yet checked in and asked him once more if he could get in contact with him and have Flight Y come up on my frequency. After several tries; Flight X advised me that he was unable to get in contact with Flight Y. I observed Flight Y beneath the tanker; begin to head north towards his next military operating area that he was flight planned for. I told my supervisor of the events that were unfolding and he proceeded to see if he could get in contact with Flight Y via the GUARD frequency 121.5. All manners of getting into contact with Flight Y failed. My D-side at the time coordinated Flight Y entering the next sector's airspace with the knowledge that we were still not in contact with this flight; and that the last known altitude that was assigned was the block altitude FL240B260. Flight X and Flight Y were approximately 30 to 40 miles apart when I declared that MARSA was terminated; and cleared Flight X back to base via as previously cleared and to maintain flight level 250. It was at this time that I saw Flight Y's data tag altitudes change and reflect the altitudes of the MOA in which he was operating in. Flight Y had come up on the next sector's frequency and eventually conducted their military operations for that area. Flight Y exited the refueling block without MARSA being terminated and entered the new military operating area without a clearance due to the fact that we were unable to raise him on any frequency; including the tanker frequency via Flight X. Flight Y also descended below the block altitude he was last assigned as he began to pull away from the tanker; with the lowest altitude I saw being FL225 for no more than 30 seconds. The sector beneath my airspace; Concord/Gardner; also saw Flight Y's altitudes and did not have any traffic in the area. Recommendation; these pilots should have been well aware of their responsibilities in conducting MARSA operations while refueling and know that they cannot be cleared into a new military operating area without a clearance. The fact that they were off frequency the entire time and went below the block altitude that they were assigned is absolutely unsafe and should have never happened.

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.