Narrative:

I was working the morpark radar position; combined with the whole 'west side' (woodland and filmore). The weather was VFR and the time was in the evening. The traffic was one IFR vny arrival on final and two IFR bur arrivals. One was going to runway 15 and one to runway 8. The clearance delivery position received a phone call for an IFR release off of whp airport. My co-worker working the combined 'east side' heard this and told the data position to not release anyone because of my traffic. Meanwhile I was talking and determining my intersection sequence. The data position controller looked at my traffic and decided that in his opinion the aircraft could be released. He asked me for a release and I said no; just as my co-worker had. I did not feel comfortable releasing an IFR aircraft off of whp with two IFR aircraft inbound for bur. Besides the fact that it was night time; small; sometimes unfamiliar or less experienced pilots depart off of whp. Also the tower was closed and there was going to be no one to ensure the aircraft would change to my approach frequency right off departure. All of these reasons could cause some confusion and possibility a delay in frequency change. I did not explain these reasons to the data controller; because it's not safe to explain my control decisions while plugged into position. The data controller continued to press me for release telling me it wouldn't be a factor. He kept looking at my traffic and saying things like 'so you are just waiting to miss the bur 15 arrival' and similar statements. I continued to tell him no; and my co-worker also tried to tell him to just drop it. He then said; 'well the guy is on the phone so you're just going to make him hold because you don't like whp'. 'You are going to sterilize the whole airspace for one plane'; at this point the supervisor came up behind my chair and said in what sounded to me to be a forceful tone; 'it's your job to deal with whp departures'. I did not say anything to him because he is my superior but now I felt not only bullied by my data controller; but by the person who is supposed to protect me and defend my control decisions as the controller in position. In my opinion I was dealing with the whp departure; by holding him on the ground until I felt it was safe to release him. I was feeling pressure from two more experience controllers to go against my gut feeling. Against my better judgment and taking into consideration that the more experienced controllers; data and supervisor; must have done all prior coordination; told data to release the aircraft and gave a void time. At this point the vny arrival aircraft had landed and I believe that the bur 15 arrival had landed and the bur runway 8 was about 6 mile final. The C172 came off departure. He came off of runway 12; taking him directly into the bur final. I immediately displayed the aircraft to bur tower just as they were calling to see which way I was turning the aircraft off of whp because it was headed right into the bur final and the aircraft on final. I said I was turning the aircraft to the north and luckily the cessna called me right off departure and I turned him on a 300 heading. I am pretty sure separation was lost. I was never told which runway the aircraft was departing. When an aircraft departs off of runway 12 at whp the supervisor needs to do coordination before the aircraft can be released. Did data know which runway the aircraft was going to depart and not tell me? Did the supervisor do the coordination and not tell me? Did he know there needed to be coordination done? I don't know the answers to any of these questions. What I do know is that I felt coerced into releasing an aircraft that departed into a potentially fatal position. I am disappointed in my leadership for not only not protecting me as the primary controller; but for also choosing to make snide comments behind my back as opposed to trying to ask data what the situation was. The bottom line is when I said not to release the aircraft that should have been the end of it. There should not have been any other discussion about it. There were too many unknowns in this situation. I trusted in people who are supposed to have my best interest in mind; people with more air traffic experience; instead of trusting myself. Teamwork was not applied in this situation. I would recommend that there be better supervisor training. I never should have been put into a position in which my control decisions were being challenged to point that I go against what I feel is safe. I also think that there should be a procedure change that says anytime an aircraft is requesting release off of whp when the tower is closed both bur and vny needs to be notified regardless of which runway the aircraft wants.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: SCT controller experienced a loss of separation when pressure was applied by both a fellow controller and supervisor to release an IFR departure from WHP when BUR traffic was believed to be a factor.

Narrative: I was working the Morpark RADAR position; combined with the whole 'west side' (Woodland and Filmore). The weather was VFR and the time was in the evening. The traffic was one IFR VNY arrival on final and two IFR BUR arrivals. One was going to Runway 15 and one to Runway 8. The Clearance Delivery position received a phone call for an IFR release off of WHP Airport. My co-worker working the combined 'east side' heard this and told the Data Position to not release anyone because of my traffic. Meanwhile I was talking and determining my intersection sequence. The Data Position Controller looked at my traffic and decided that in his opinion the aircraft could be released. He asked me for a release and I said no; just as my co-worker had. I did not feel comfortable releasing an IFR aircraft off of WHP with two IFR aircraft inbound for BUR. Besides the fact that it was night time; small; sometimes unfamiliar or less experienced pilots depart off of WHP. Also the Tower was closed and there was going to be no one to ensure the aircraft would change to my approach frequency right off departure. All of these reasons could cause some confusion and possibility a delay in frequency change. I did not explain these reasons to the Data Controller; because it's not safe to explain my control decisions while plugged into position. The Data Controller continued to press me for release telling me it wouldn't be a factor. He kept looking at my traffic and saying things like 'so you are just waiting to miss the BUR 15 arrival' and similar statements. I continued to tell him no; and my co-worker also tried to tell him to just drop it. He then said; 'Well the guy is on the phone so you're just going to make him hold because you don't like WHP'. 'You are going to sterilize the whole airspace for one plane'; at this point the Supervisor came up behind my chair and said in what sounded to me to be a forceful tone; 'it's your job to deal with WHP departures'. I did not say anything to him because he is my Superior but now I felt not only bullied by my Data Controller; but by the person who is supposed to protect me and defend my control decisions as the controller in position. In my opinion I was dealing with the WHP departure; by holding him on the ground until I felt it was safe to release him. I was feeling pressure from two more experience controllers to go against my gut feeling. Against my better judgment and taking into consideration that the more experienced controllers; Data and Supervisor; must have done all prior coordination; told Data to release the aircraft and gave a void time. At this point the VNY arrival aircraft had landed and I believe that the BUR 15 arrival had landed and the BUR Runway 8 was about 6 mile final. The C172 came off departure. He came off of Runway 12; taking him directly into the BUR final. I immediately displayed the aircraft to BUR Tower just as they were calling to see which way I was turning the aircraft off of WHP because it was headed right into the BUR final and the aircraft on final. I said I was turning the aircraft to the north and luckily the Cessna called me right off departure and I turned him on a 300 heading. I am pretty sure separation was lost. I was never told which runway the aircraft was departing. When an aircraft departs off of Runway 12 at WHP the Supervisor needs to do coordination before the aircraft can be released. Did Data know which runway the aircraft was going to depart and not tell me? Did the Supervisor do the coordination and not tell me? Did he know there needed to be coordination done? I don't know the answers to any of these questions. What I do know is that I felt coerced into releasing an aircraft that departed into a potentially fatal position. I am disappointed in my leadership for not only not protecting me as the Primary Controller; but for also choosing to make snide comments behind my back as opposed to trying to ask Data what the situation was. The bottom line is when I said not to release the aircraft that should have been the end of it. There should not have been any other discussion about it. There were too many unknowns in this situation. I trusted in people who are supposed to have my best interest in mind; people with more air traffic experience; instead of trusting myself. Teamwork was not applied in this situation. I would recommend that there be better Supervisor training. I never should have been put into a position in which my control decisions were being challenged to point that I go against what I feel is safe. I also think that there should be a procedure change that says anytime an aircraft is requesting release off of WHP when the Tower is closed both BUR and VNY needs to be notified regardless of which runway the aircraft wants.

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.