Narrative:

[There were] thunderstorms west and north of iad moving southeast-bound. Wind shifted to the north. Potomac approach wanted to go north; even though in a few minutes the winds would be across the 1R final; and they would not be able to land north. I was working as coordinator and was helping out local 3. He had a departure off runway 30 he turned southbound to miss the weather. After switching the aircraft to pct; he observed an aircraft on the ILS approach runway 1R. We both said what are they doing landing 1R. We had no idea the supervisor had gone north; we only knew pct was looking to go north. As far as we knew we were still in a south operation and the local 3 turned the aircraft to an appropriate heading. After observing the ILS 1R aircraft; we saw the final controller break out the aircraft to the east. Recommendation; first thing; the supervisor needs to make sure everyone is aware of a change of operations. Second; we should not have gone north to try to land 3 aircraft. As far as I know; only one had landed. There was wind shear on the runway; a 25 KT gain. Once the system went through we went south again. This is an ongoing problem of doing things because pct asked for it; rather than making sure we run a safe operation. I guess the thought is; if we haven't killed anyone yet; why not do the same thing tomorrow and the next day. All these decisions are being made by people who don't work the traffic. Maybe the people making the decisions should also get their headsets and work the situation they created; then maybe they won't do that again if their put into that situation.

Related reports:

Google
 

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: IAD Controller voiced concern regarding supervisory decisions to comply with PCT's runway change requests even though the fast moving weather system would require another runway change in short order.

Narrative: [There were] thunderstorms west and north of IAD moving southeast-bound. Wind shifted to the north. Potomac Approach wanted to go north; even though in a few minutes the winds would be across the 1R final; and they would not be able to land north. I was working as Coordinator and was helping out Local 3. He had a departure off Runway 30 he turned southbound to miss the weather. After switching the aircraft to PCT; he observed an aircraft on the ILS approach Runway 1R. We both said what are they doing landing 1R. We had no idea the Supervisor had gone north; we only knew PCT was looking to go north. As far as we knew we were still in a south operation and the Local 3 turned the aircraft to an appropriate heading. After observing the ILS 1R aircraft; we saw the Final Controller break out the aircraft to the east. Recommendation; first thing; the Supervisor needs to make sure everyone is aware of a change of operations. Second; we should not have gone north to try to land 3 aircraft. As far as I know; only one had landed. There was wind shear on the runway; a 25 KT gain. Once the system went through we went south again. This is an ongoing problem of doing things because PCT asked for it; rather than making sure we run a safe operation. I guess the thought is; if we haven't killed anyone yet; why not do the same thing tomorrow and the next day. All these decisions are being made by people who don't work the traffic. Maybe the people making the decisions should also get their headsets and work the situation they created; then maybe they won't do that again if their put into that situation.

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.