C90 controller described a loss of separation event involving a departure that had to return to the ...

Narrative:

I was working south departure when the tower got in my ear and told me that air carrier X needed to return to the airport. Air carrier X checked on the frequency heading south so I turned him back to the downwind for the airport. Another air carrier then checked in on a southwest heading and I asked if he had air carrier X in sight and turned him south. I told the vector controller that air carrier X was coming back and I might put him behind an aircraft that was on the final. The tower then put a third air carrier on a 220 heading and I told the west departure controller to stop the third carrier at 4;000 as air carrier X was at 5;000 crossing his path. I shipped the aircraft to the vector person. Recommendation; I should have made sure the local controller knew I was going to turn back to the airport. I assumed he knew since he was the person that told me air carrier X needed to come back to the airport. Better yet I should have just told the local controller to put the aircraft on the downwind and give him straight to the final controller.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: C90 Controller described a loss of separation event involving a departure that had to return to the airport; the reporter sugggests better communications between the TRACON and the tower would have precluded the incident.

Narrative: I was working South Departure when the Tower got in my ear and told me that Air Carrier X needed to return to the airport. Air Carrier X checked on the frequency heading south so I turned him back to the downwind for the airport. Another Air Carrier then checked in on a southwest heading and I asked if he had Air Carrier X in sight and turned him south. I told the Vector Controller that Air Carrier X was coming back and I might put him behind an aircraft that was on the final. The Tower then put a third Air Carrier on a 220 heading and I told the West Departure Controller to stop the third carrier at 4;000 as Air Carrier X was at 5;000 crossing his path. I shipped the aircraft to the vector person. Recommendation; I should have made sure the Local Controller knew I was going to turn back to the airport. I assumed he knew since he was the person that told me Air Carrier X needed to come back to the airport. Better yet I should have just told the Local Controller to put the aircraft on the downwind and give him straight to the Final Controller.

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.

Attributes
ACN	883540
Time
Date	201004
Local Time Of Day	1801-2400
Place
Locale Reference	ORD.Airport
State Reference	IL
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Commercial Fixed Wing
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Initial Climb
Route In Use	Vectors
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Departure
Qualification	Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types

C90 controller described a loss of separation event involving a departure that had to return to the airport; the reporter sugggests better communications between the TRACON and the tower would have precluded the incident.