Narrative:

This is a report of very poor handling of transition between the darc & NAS/host systems. We had been on darc only (no fdp) for 2 hours. The supervisor in charge of the mid shift came around and announced 'we're transitioning to NAS.' after he left; we discussed that no strips confirming that fdp or rdp were up; as is standard. A few minutes later; strips print that say fdp is certified; to enter flight plans. However; darc did not reflect this change; which should have changed to darc/host. Over the next 20 minutes; there is confusion between controllers as some were using full NAS; including the uncertified rdp system; and others were still using darc; which still showed darc only. The supervisor on duty did not take any action to clarify the situation; and trying to clarify it with other controllers only led to arguments. Some controllers insisted that we should be operating on NAS; and others were still trying to use darc with separate fdp via uret. It was a very confusing situation; and should have been handled much better. This is a routine transition. Recommendation; supervisor on duty needs to better understand the differences between darc only; darc/host; fdp; rdp; NAS and how to correctly coordinate with controllers on when to transition between the systems. Clear communication on what system we should be using is vital.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: ZFW controller described a very confused transition between DARC and NAS/Host operation; indicating the supervisor was unfamiliar and failed to clarify specifics of the change.

Narrative: This is a report of very poor handling of transition between the DARC & NAS/Host systems. We had been on DARC only (no FDP) for 2 hours. The supervisor in charge of the mid shift came around and announced 'We're transitioning to NAS.' After he left; we discussed that no strips confirming that FDP or RDP were up; as is standard. A few minutes later; strips print that say FDP is certified; to enter flight plans. However; DARC did not reflect this change; which should have changed to DARC/HOST. Over the next 20 minutes; there is confusion between controllers as some were using full NAS; including the uncertified RDP system; and others were still using DARC; which still showed DARC ONLY. The supervisor on duty did not take any action to clarify the situation; and trying to clarify it with other controllers only led to arguments. Some controllers insisted that we should be operating on NAS; and others were still trying to use DARC with separate FDP via URET. It was a very confusing situation; and should have been handled much better. This is a routine transition. Recommendation; supervisor on duty needs to better understand the differences between DARC ONLY; DARC/HOST; FDP; RDP; NAS and how to correctly coordinate with controllers on when to transition between the systems. Clear communication on what system we should be using is vital.

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.