Narrative:

I was working the sector that controls vgt IFR departures. I was notified prior to departure that a PA44 would be departing VFR and looking to pick up their IFR clearance in flight. When the aircraft departed I gave them a class B clearance and waited for them to reach altitude before issuing the IFR clearance. Once the IFR clearance was read; I had the aircraft reset their transponder to the IFR code listed on the IFR strip. I observed the beacon code change on the radar screen and for a moment saw 'DB' flashing under the aircraft. Meanwhile; the aircraft tag had been handed off to another sector within the facility for further radar service. The multifunction H.V. Command; to change the data tag from VFR to IFR; was entered on the data tag while the aircraft was still on an intrafacility tag; however; it was on the tag of the next controller within my facility. I requested that strips on the VFR code be removed from the flight data system. I was then told that the request returned a 'not your control' response. After I handed the aircraft off to the other intrafacility sector I requested that the strip removal on the VFR code be attempted again. I was then told by flight data that the request to remove strips for the PA44 was accepted. The 'DB' was no longer observed on the radar scope. I later found out that changing the data tag to reflect IFR status on our system did not change the data tag that was displayed to los angeles center. This error may have caused the center controller to apply different separation standards to the aircraft based on the VFR data tag shown on their screen. I now know that in order to change the data tag that is observed by the center; I have to completely terminate control on the VFR data block and wait for the target to re-acquire an IFR tag based on the IFR code. Recommendation; I recommend that a stars classroom module (in addition to the computer based cbi) be added to the training program for new employees.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: L30 controller described a confused flight plan status event involving VFR traffic departing VGT requesting an IFR pick up; noting all efforts to reduce confusion by removing the VFR flight plan in the TRACON computer did nothing to update the data block information in the Enroute computer.

Narrative: I was working the sector that controls VGT IFR departures. I was notified prior to departure that a PA44 would be departing VFR and looking to pick up their IFR clearance in flight. When the aircraft departed I gave them a Class B clearance and waited for them to reach altitude before issuing the IFR clearance. Once the IFR clearance was read; I had the aircraft reset their transponder to the IFR code listed on the IFR strip. I observed the beacon code change on the RADAR screen and for a moment saw 'DB' flashing under the aircraft. Meanwhile; the aircraft tag had been handed off to another sector within the facility for further RADAR service. The multifunction H.V. command; to change the data tag from VFR to IFR; was entered on the data tag while the aircraft was still on an intrafacility tag; however; it was on the tag of the next controller within my facility. I requested that strips on the VFR code be removed from the Flight Data system. I was then told that the request returned a 'not your control' response. After I handed the aircraft off to the other intrafacility sector I requested that the strip removal on the VFR code be attempted again. I was then told by Flight Data that the request to remove strips for the PA44 was accepted. The 'DB' was no longer observed on the RADAR scope. I later found out that changing the data tag to reflect IFR status on our system did not change the data tag that was displayed to Los Angeles Center. This error may have caused the Center Controller to apply different separation standards to the aircraft based on the VFR data tag shown on their screen. I now know that in order to change the data tag that is observed by the Center; I have to completely terminate control on the VFR data block and wait for the target to re-acquire an IFR tag based on the IFR code. Recommendation; I recommend that a STARS classroom module (in addition to the computer based CBI) be added to the training program for new employees.

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.