Narrative:

Training was in progress at the sector and we had a complex situation developing due to a military overflight about to join up with another aircraft for air-refueling. The event occurred with air carrier X departing dsm southeast bound over irk. The irk VOR is approximately 10 miles outside of our airspace; located in the ZKC sector K40. Forty miles northwest of the boundary the trainee began calling K40 offering a point out. He called the sector 3 times with no response. At this point the aircraft was 20 miles from the boundary. We decided; since sector K40 was unable to answer the phone; to flash the aircraft to the sector. With this technique; the sector would not have to answer the line but just buy the hand off. Apparently this was still too much work for sector K40 so we had to call for a hand off. The trainee called once and then I; the trainer; took over and called twice. At this point we had to punch off the line and crank the aircraft to an opposite direction heading to attempt avoiding an airspace violation. I was limited on the headings I could use primarily because I had the military join up in progress; east of the incident's location. Once I established a north heading for air carrier X; I called the neighboring ZKC sector K50; in an attempt to have them try and reach their neighbor sector K40. Unfortunately this was to no avail and air carrier X; in the process of turning north; entered the sector K40. No separation was lost with any other aircraft. After the deviation was lost and the aircraft was on a north heading; sector K40 called me and informed me that air carrier X was 'point-out approved'. I'm not sure why they took the effort to call since it was a ridiculous piece of coordination. Recommendation; as the trainer of the sector; it was my responsibility to ensure that such a situation did not occur. I have identified several aspects of the scenario that lead to me responding too slowly to avert the deviation. 1) K40 has historically taken a long time to pick up the line; this is a systemic problem with that particular sector. In this regard I was quite pleased that my trainee started as soon as he did. However; this trend that K40 exercises in not picking up the phone has led to controllers at otm pushing the point of no return as far as vectoring goes. K40 in the past normally picks up the line in the last minute or buys the hand off in the last minute. I understand that this is not an excuse; however; it does create a certain degree of expectation that K40 will buy the hand off or pickup the line eventually in time. 2) K40 needs to have louder speakers or more people at the sector that can answer a call. It is not excusable for a controller to call another sector 5 or 6 times over a time period of five minutes and not be answered. Clearly the K40 sector's speakers are too quiet or the controller is too busy. Either way; this means that they need better speakers or the manager at K40 is not aware that his/her controller is in need of assistance. It creates a potentially dangerous situation for another controller if they have to be concerned all the time that another sector does not hear them. 3) redraw the lines. Apparently the K40 sector is too large and it is easy for them to forget our shared boundary since it's so small. I propose we move K50 20 miles west to avoid dealing with K40 all together. 5) I will have to reassess my training and try to have my trainees vector aircraft; in the future; sooner due to this situation. Although a safe practice; it is a disservice to the consumers that we have to vector them 40 miles out of their way because another sector can not perform their designated tasks. 4) personally; since I will probably not be able to trust K40 doing their job for a while; I will be pointing aircraft out 40 miles from the boundary and if they do not answer the first time I will be forced to vector sooner than I would have in the past.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: ZAU Controller described airspace incursion event when adjacent sector Controller failed to respond to attempted coordination and/or hand off; Reporter indicating subject sector is noted for unresponsiveness to coordination.

Narrative: Training was in progress at the sector and we had a complex situation developing due to a Military overflight about to join up with another aircraft for air-refueling. The event occurred with Air Carrier X departing DSM southeast bound over IRK. The IRK VOR is approximately 10 miles outside of our airspace; located in the ZKC sector K40. Forty miles northwest of the boundary the trainee began calling K40 offering a point out. He called the sector 3 times with no response. At this point the aircraft was 20 miles from the boundary. We decided; since sector K40 was unable to answer the phone; to flash the aircraft to the sector. With this technique; the sector would not have to answer the line but just buy the hand off. Apparently this was still too much work for sector K40 so we had to call for a hand off. The trainee called once and then I; the Trainer; took over and called twice. At this point we had to punch off the line and crank the aircraft to an opposite direction heading to attempt avoiding an airspace violation. I was limited on the headings I could use primarily because I had the Military join up in progress; east of the incident's location. Once I established a north heading for Air Carrier X; I called the neighboring ZKC sector K50; in an attempt to have them try and reach their neighbor sector K40. Unfortunately this was to no avail and Air Carrier X; in the process of turning north; entered the sector K40. No separation was lost with any other aircraft. After the deviation was lost and the aircraft was on a north heading; sector K40 called me and informed me that Air Carrier X was 'point-out approved'. I'm not sure why they took the effort to call since it was a ridiculous piece of coordination. Recommendation; as the Trainer of the sector; it was my responsibility to ensure that such a situation did not occur. I have identified several aspects of the scenario that lead to me responding too slowly to avert the deviation. 1) K40 has historically taken a long time to pick up the line; this is a systemic problem with that particular sector. In this regard I was quite pleased that my Trainee started as soon as he did. However; this trend that K40 exercises in not picking up the phone has led to controllers at OTM pushing the point of no return as far as vectoring goes. K40 in the past normally picks up the line in the last minute or buys the hand off in the last minute. I understand that this is not an excuse; however; it does create a certain degree of expectation that K40 will buy the hand off or pickup the line eventually in time. 2) K40 needs to have louder speakers or more people at the sector that can answer a call. It is not excusable for a Controller to call another sector 5 or 6 times over a time period of five minutes and not be answered. Clearly the K40 sector's speakers are too quiet or the Controller is too busy. Either way; this means that they need better speakers or the Manager at K40 is not aware that his/her Controller is in need of assistance. It creates a potentially dangerous situation for another Controller if they have to be concerned all the time that another sector does not hear them. 3) Redraw the lines. Apparently the K40 sector is too large and it is easy for them to forget our shared boundary since it's so small. I propose we move K50 20 miles west to avoid dealing with K40 all together. 5) I will have to reassess my training and try to have my Trainees vector aircraft; in the future; sooner due to this situation. Although a safe practice; it is a disservice to the consumers that we have to vector them 40 miles out of their way because another sector can not perform their designated tasks. 4) Personally; since I will probably not be able to trust K40 doing their job for a while; I will be pointing aircraft out 40 miles from the boundary and if they do not answer the first time I will be forced to vector sooner than I would have in the past.

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.