Narrative:

Aus tower only owns a pie-shaped wedge of airspace off of the departure end of runway 17L/right in a south configuration. The tower does not own any airspace on the final approach course. Air carrier X had been cleared for a visual approach to runway 17R and switched to the tower frequency. A helicopter was on a mission to downtown austin just north of the airport. Due to the nature of our procedures and airspace design; I am allowed to retain communications and control of the helicopter as it transits just east and north of the runways at aus. Helicopters never talk to an aus tower controller. This helicopter was flying directly towards air carrier X. I issued traffic as the conflict alert alarm sounded in the TRACON. The helicopter reported air carrier X in sight; and I instructed the pilot to maintain visual separation. I then called the tower and could hear the conflict alert alarm sounding in the tower cab as the tower controller was issuing traffic to air carrier X. I informed the tower controller that the helicopter had air carrier X in sight and was maintaining visual separation. Recommendation; I have repeatedly recommended that aus tower airspace be changed so that the tower could work all arrivals and transiting aircraft that would fly through or across the final approach course. My recommendation was rejected for the pie-shaped design that we currently have. As a result of this design; there are numerous conflicts which happen on the final approach course; and the aircraft are on different frequencies belonging to different facilities; the tower and the TRACON. If these aircraft are going to routinely fly in such close proximity to each other; better safety and service would be provided if the tower owned the airspace and actually worked and talked to all aircraft that flew through the arrival final approach course. The airspace should be 5 NM radius; surface to 2;000 or 2;500. I have never seen anything like this in my FAA career; but this is the austin way of doing things.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: AUS Controller described potential conflict event alleging the Tower and TRACON airspace needs to be modified to accommodate certain operations.

Narrative: AUS Tower only owns a pie-shaped wedge of airspace off of the departure end of Runway 17L/R in a South configuration. The Tower does not own any airspace on the Final Approach Course. Air Carrier X had been cleared for a Visual Approach to Runway 17R and switched to the Tower frequency. A helicopter was on a mission to downtown Austin just north of the airport. Due to the nature of our procedures and airspace design; I am allowed to retain communications and control of the helicopter as it transits just east and north of the runways at AUS. Helicopters never talk to an AUS Tower Controller. This helicopter was flying directly towards Air Carrier X. I issued traffic as the Conflict Alert Alarm sounded in the TRACON. The helicopter reported Air Carrier X in sight; and I instructed the pilot to maintain visual separation. I then called the Tower and could hear the Conflict Alert Alarm sounding in the Tower Cab as the Tower Controller was issuing traffic to Air Carrier X. I informed the Tower Controller that the helicopter had Air Carrier X in sight and was maintaining visual separation. Recommendation; I have repeatedly recommended that AUS Tower airspace be changed so that the Tower could work all arrivals and transiting aircraft that would fly through or across the Final Approach Course. My recommendation was rejected for the pie-shaped design that we currently have. As a result of this design; there are numerous conflicts which happen on the Final Approach Course; and the aircraft are on different frequencies belonging to different facilities; the Tower and the TRACON. If these aircraft are going to routinely fly in such close proximity to each other; better safety and service would be provided if the Tower owned the airspace and actually worked and talked to all aircraft that flew through the arrival final approach course. The Airspace should be 5 NM radius; surface to 2;000 or 2;500. I have never seen anything like this in my FAA career; but this is the Austin way of doing things.

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.