Narrative:

I was vectoring aircraft for IFR approaches at the ZZZ airport. VOR/DME approaches to runway 30 were advertised. My originally planned sequence was a citation from the west; followed by a regional jet inbound from the southeast; with a cardinal last. When the regional jet appeared on the scope; it became obvious; that he was much too high and fast to fit in the sequence; and I decided to vector him for the ILS approach to runway 21R. I then adjusted the vector for the cardinal to follow the citation to runway 30. I took the regional jet 30 miles north of the airport to lose altitude; and then turned him onto the localizer to track inbound; gradually descending him as the mvas permitted. In the meantime I turned the cardinal onto the VOR/DME and cleared him for the approach. The spacing looked very good at this time and I expected the cardinal to be on the ground by the time the regional jet reached the 10 mile ring. On a 3 mile final the cardinal slowed down to 50 knots and I realized that the spacing would not work out as well. I slowed down the regional jet; but spacing began to look less than optimal to crossing runways. When the cardinal was on a 1 mile final; and basically appearing to stand still; and the regional jet was on a 7 mile final; I called the tower to see if he could provide separation; or if I should box the regional jet around. He said; he would see what he could do; and that I should send the regional jet to him. I cleared the regional jet for the ILS and shipped him to tower. On the scope it appeared that the cardinal landed and turned off the runway; when the regional jet was on about a 1 mile final. When I talked to the tower controller later; he/she indicated; that he/she thought the situation had been way too close. Upon reexamining the situation; I agree. I should have boxed the regional jet around; when I realized that the spacing had deteriorated. I also made a mistake; in that I did not assign the cardinal alternate missed approach instructions. The weather was good enough to make a missed approach very unlikely; but in the worst case scenario; the cardinal could have gone missed and if not assigned a runway heading at that time by tower; could have turned back into the ILS approach course. The originally planned spacing would have given me ample room to vector the regional jet out of the way; but as things developed; the room disappeared. Recommendation; I should have taken the regional jet further north or reduced his speed more drastically earlier. I should have been much more aggressive in taking action to box him around; instead of pawning the situation off on tower. I should definitely have assigned an alternate missed approach. Our traffic has decreased alarmingly in the last two years and we rarely have to sequence aircraft anymore. This situation made me realize; that I may have become more rusty; and I will do my best to provide more spacing and to completely re familiarize myself with all the pitfalls of our approaches.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Tower controller described a near conflict event on intersecting runways when his/her efforts to sequence to both runways was flawed.

Narrative: I was vectoring aircraft for IFR approaches at the ZZZ Airport. VOR/DME Approaches to Runway 30 were advertised. My originally planned sequence was a Citation from the West; followed by a Regional Jet inbound from the Southeast; with a Cardinal last. When the Regional Jet appeared on the scope; it became obvious; that he was much too high and fast to fit in the sequence; and I decided to vector him for the ILS approach to Runway 21R. I then adjusted the vector for the Cardinal to follow the Citation to Runway 30. I took the Regional Jet 30 Miles north of the airport to lose altitude; and then turned him onto the localizer to track inbound; gradually descending him as the MVAs permitted. In the meantime I turned the Cardinal onto the VOR/DME and cleared him for the approach. The spacing looked very good at this time and I expected the Cardinal to be on the ground by the time the Regional Jet reached the 10 Mile ring. On a 3 Mile final the Cardinal slowed down to 50 Knots and I realized that the spacing would not work out as well. I slowed down the Regional Jet; but spacing began to look less than optimal to crossing runways. When the Cardinal was on a 1 Mile final; and basically appearing to stand still; and the Regional Jet was on a 7 Mile final; I called the tower to see if he could provide separation; or if I should box the Regional Jet around. He said; he would see what he could do; and that I should send the Regional Jet to him. I cleared the Regional Jet for the ILS and shipped him to tower. On the scope it appeared that the Cardinal landed and turned off the runway; when the Regional Jet was on about a 1 Mile final. When I talked to the tower controller later; he/she indicated; that he/she thought the situation had been way too close. Upon reexamining the situation; I agree. I should have boxed the Regional Jet around; when I realized that the spacing had deteriorated. I also made a mistake; in that I did not assign the Cardinal alternate missed approach instructions. The weather was good enough to make a missed approach very unlikely; but in the worst case scenario; the cardinal could have gone missed and if not assigned a runway heading at that time by tower; could have turned back into the ILS approach course. The originally planned spacing would have given me ample room to vector the Regional Jet out of the way; but as things developed; the room disappeared. Recommendation; I should have taken the Regional Jet further north or reduced his speed more drastically earlier. I should have been much more aggressive in taking action to box him around; instead of pawning the situation off on tower. I should definitely have assigned an alternate missed approach. Our traffic has decreased alarmingly in the last two years and we rarely have to sequence aircraft anymore. This situation made me realize; that I may have become more rusty; and I will do my best to provide more spacing and to completely re familiarize myself with all the pitfalls of our approaches.

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.