Narrative:

This event occurred while testing eram (en route automation modernization) on live traffic. The layout of this new system was something I was attempting to familiarize myself with. It had been several months since I was offered an updated refresher course on this system. The day this event occurred was the second day of live testing at my facility to which I had discovered that all my previously saved preference settings for this particular sector had somehow defaulted back to something that I had not saved them as. Air carrier X; a B737; was on the moxee 6 arrival into pdx and was issued the appropriate crossing restriction ('cross vantz at and maintain 12000). Vantz is on the boundary with pdx approach. At about 25 miles south of vantz; I made the computer entry to hand off the aircraft to pdx approach and apparently didn't notice the response to my computer entry. The response area was cluttered around various other text boxes (a major difference from host to eram). With eram; the hand off status indicator is much different than it was in host (when making a hand off to pdx approach). When I went to ship the aircraft's communications to approach I had thought the data block reflected that the hand off had been accepted by approach. I slant zero'd the data block and moved on to the rest of my work. I give the appropriate position relief briefing to the incoming controller. He sits down on position and goes to drop air carrier X's data block because it has left our sector boundary (both laterally and vertically-the aircraft must have checked on with approach as it had continued his decent and approach had never called back to ask to try switching his communications to them again) with approach and he is not able to drop it. He then asked me if I am sure I made the hand off to approach (I said yes) and he says he wasn't able to drop the tag and it wasn't showing that the hand off had even been made. We let the eram area representative know that this might possibly have something to do with eram and he notes it and says he will look into it. Later the eram area representative pulls me aside and talks to me about this event and tells me that he viewed 'it' and it was in fact that I hadn't made the appropriate hand off and advised me to fill out a report on it. I did remember that in the briefing given before plugging into the live eram testing was that the auto hand off feature was broken (and a known issue) with eram if you used a temporary altitude instead of a hard altitude on the crossing restrictions. (Although I normally do not rely on the auto hand off feature in host) recommendation; be more diligent in my complete scan of all my data blocks. Not work with eram until it is completely fixed and stable. It's challenging to complete your assigned work duties on a system that changes without warning or provocation.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: ZSE Controller described airspace incursion event during ERAM testing; listing unfamiliarity with the new equipment and the unreliable ERAM functionality as contributing to the failed hand off.

Narrative: This event occurred while testing ERAM (En Route Automation Modernization) on live traffic. The layout of this new system was something I was attempting to familiarize myself with. It had been several months since I was offered an updated refresher course on this system. The day this event occurred was the second day of live testing at my facility to which I had discovered that all my previously saved preference settings for this particular sector had somehow defaulted back to something that I had not saved them as. Air Carrier X; a B737; was on the MOXEE 6 arrival into PDX and was issued the appropriate crossing restriction ('cross VANTZ at and maintain 12000). VANTZ is on the boundary with PDX Approach. At about 25 miles south of VANTZ; I made the computer entry to hand off the aircraft to PDX Approach and apparently didn't notice the response to my computer entry. The response area was cluttered around various other text boxes (a major difference from HOST to ERAM). With ERAM; the hand off status indicator is much different than it was in HOST (when making a hand off to PDX Approach). When I went to ship the aircraft's communications to Approach I had thought the data block reflected that the hand off had been accepted by Approach. I slant zero'd the data block and moved on to the rest of my work. I give the appropriate position relief briefing to the incoming controller. He sits down on position and goes to drop Air Carrier X's data block because it has left our sector boundary (both laterally and vertically-the aircraft must have checked on with Approach as it had continued his decent and Approach had never called back to ask to try switching his communications to them again) with Approach and he is not able to drop it. He then asked me if I am sure I made the hand off to Approach (I said yes) and he says he wasn't able to drop the tag and it wasn't showing that the hand off had even been made. We let the ERAM Area Representative know that this might possibly have something to do with ERAM and he notes it and says he will look into it. Later the ERAM Area Representative pulls me aside and talks to me about this event and tells me that he viewed 'it' and it was in fact that I hadn't made the appropriate hand off and advised me to fill out a report on it. I did remember that in the briefing given before plugging into the live ERAM testing was that the auto hand off feature was broken (and a known issue) with ERAM if you used a temporary altitude instead of a hard altitude on the crossing restrictions. (Although I normally do not rely on the auto hand off feature in HOST) Recommendation; be more diligent in my complete scan of all my data blocks. Not work with ERAM until it is completely fixed and stable. It's challenging to complete your assigned work duties on a system that changes without warning or provocation.

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.