Tower controller complaint refernce air force radar maintenance policy.

Attributes
ACN	87232
Time
Date	198805
Day	Fri
Local Time Of Day	0601 To 1200
Place
Locale Reference	airport : pfn
State Reference	FL
Aircraft 1
Controlling Facilities	tracon : pam tower : pfn
Person 1
Affiliation	government : faa
Function	controller : local
Qualification	controller : non radar
ASRS Report	87232
Events
Anomaly	other anomaly other
Resolutory Action	other
Consequence	Other
Supplementary
Primary Problem	Navigational Facility
Air Traffic Incident	other
Situations
ATC Facility	procedure or policy : unspecified

Narrative:

Normal procedure in the panama city tower/tyndall radar (maintenance) is to remove the radar from service. Tyndall provides maintenance and has radar service for the area. Weekends are slow or down days for the air force so maintenance is performed at this time. Panama city traffic is up or more complex on fri, sat and sun. It does not appear that pfn traffic is considered when radar is removed from service. In house complaints and requests have been made. No change has been noticed. It should be pointed out that pfn tower is a VFR tower. This is what we are basically told when we try to keep the BRITE in service. The military does not want to do maintenance at night (verbally understand no night shift) and the FAA maintenance does not want to flex their work schedule to cover night shift maintenance or training. Therefore, safety in the air traffic area is sacrificed.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: TWR CTLR COMPLAINT REFERNCE AIR FORCE RADAR MAINTENANCE POLICY.

Narrative: NORMAL PROC IN THE PANAMA CITY TWR/TYNDALL RADAR (MAINT) IS TO REMOVE THE RADAR FROM SVC. TYNDALL PROVIDES MAINT AND HAS RADAR SVC FOR THE AREA. WEEKENDS ARE SLOW OR DOWN DAYS FOR THE AIR FORCE SO MAINT IS PERFORMED AT THIS TIME. PANAMA CITY TFC IS UP OR MORE COMPLEX ON FRI, SAT AND SUN. IT DOES NOT APPEAR THAT PFN TFC IS CONSIDERED WHEN RADAR IS REMOVED FROM SVC. IN HOUSE COMPLAINTS AND REQUESTS HAVE BEEN MADE. NO CHANGE HAS BEEN NOTICED. IT SHOULD BE POINTED OUT THAT PFN TWR IS A VFR TWR. THIS IS WHAT WE ARE BASICALLY TOLD WHEN WE TRY TO KEEP THE BRITE IN SVC. THE MIL DOES NOT WANT TO DO MAINT AT NIGHT (VERBALLY UNDERSTAND NO NIGHT SHIFT) AND THE FAA MAINT DOES NOT WANT TO FLEX THEIR WORK SCHEDULE TO COVER NIGHT SHIFT MAINT OR TRNING. THEREFORE, SAFETY IN THE ATA IS SACRIFICED.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of August 2007 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.