Narrative:

I was working the flight data position at fairbanks FSS and received a facsimile to issue a NOTAM for a taxiway closure at fai airport. I composed and transmitted the NOTAM after which I attempted to retrieve the NOTAM to verify its accuracy and to obtain the NOTAM number. The NOTAM was not in the system. I verified it was not on the suspense list. I then did an oasis evr using the weather/NOTAM transmitted data feature for the last hour and entered 'twy' as a search string. The search did not return any transmissions with this string. Based on this information I assumed I had not transmitted the NOTAM and must have inadvertently pressed a wrong key. I then formatted the NOTAM again and transmitted it. I then retrieved and verified its accuracy and obtained the NOTAM number and recorded it on the faxed sheet. Fai FSS received a call from another flight service station concerning a NOTAM that was issued for ftw airport for taxiway 7. Evr data indicates that this was the first NOTAM I had attempted to issue for fai and had mistakenly issued it as an ftw NOTAM. I was then notified by the flm (front line manager) of the incident. I believe there is an inherent safety issue with oasis when it will allow you to issue a NOTAM for an airport that is not in your area of responsibility without first raising any red flags to the specialist. Also; there is no user friendly way for a specialist to go back and check what they have just transmitted that would give them a chance to correct any mistakes made. I attempted to do this and came up empty handed which led me to wrongly assume the error was a failure to push the right key for transmission. Another minor issue with oasis that could have helped alleviate this incident is that a transmission screen immediately disappears and cannot be recalled after the message is transmitted which does not give the specialist an opportunity to give it a final look before moving on to other tasks. Had any of these tools been available to me I would have been able to identify and immediately correct the error thus avoiding any incident. Recommendation; 1) have oasis (and it's replacement system) validate an airport for your area of responsibility according to those you have selected in the facility responsibility table and generate a warning box for any NOTAMS you attempt to issue for airports outside your area of responsibility. 2) have oasis (and it's replacement system) retain a transmitted message on the screen. The border should change color to indicate it was transmitted. 3) incorporate a recall feature that will allow you to bring up previously transmitted messages. Each press of the recall button will bring up the next oldest message. 4) the message response box should be more specific. Instead of just saying 'fp transmitted successfully' or 'NOTAM transmitted successfully' it should say 'fp for NOTAM (identification) transmitted successfully' or 'NOTAM for fai transmitted successfully' and it should remain in the message response area until the next message is transmitted.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: FAI FSS Specialist described a wrong airport NOTAM issuance event suggesting Oasis equipment be modified restricting any transmittal involving airports outside the area of responsibility.

Narrative: I was working the Flight Data position at Fairbanks FSS and received a FAX to issue a NOTAM for a taxiway closure at FAI Airport. I composed and transmitted the NOTAM after which I attempted to retrieve the NOTAM to verify its accuracy and to obtain the NOTAM number. The NOTAM was not in the system. I verified it was not on the suspense list. I then did an Oasis EVR using the Weather/NOTAM transmitted data feature for the last hour and entered 'twy' as a search string. The search did not return any transmissions with this string. Based on this information I assumed I had not transmitted the NOTAM and must have inadvertently pressed a wrong key. I then formatted the NOTAM again and transmitted it. I then retrieved and verified its accuracy and obtained the NOTAM number and recorded it on the faxed sheet. FAI FSS received a call from another Flight Service Station concerning a NOTAM that was issued for FTW airport for Taxiway 7. EVR data indicates that this was the first NOTAM I had attempted to issue for FAI and had mistakenly issued it as an FTW NOTAM. I was then notified by the FLM (Front Line Manager) of the incident. I believe there is an inherent safety issue with Oasis when it will allow you to issue a NOTAM for an airport that is not in your area of responsibility without first raising any red flags to the specialist. Also; there is no user friendly way for a specialist to go back and check what they have just transmitted that would give them a chance to correct any mistakes made. I attempted to do this and came up empty handed which led me to wrongly assume the error was a failure to push the right key for transmission. Another minor issue with Oasis that could have helped alleviate this incident is that a transmission screen immediately disappears and cannot be recalled after the message is transmitted which does not give the specialist an opportunity to give it a final look before moving on to other tasks. Had any of these tools been available to me I would have been able to identify and immediately correct the error thus avoiding any incident. Recommendation; 1) Have Oasis (and it's replacement system) validate an airport for your area of responsibility according to those you have selected in the Facility Responsibility table and generate a warning box for any NOTAMS you attempt to issue for airports outside your area of responsibility. 2) Have Oasis (and it's replacement system) retain a transmitted message on the screen. The border should change color to indicate it was transmitted. 3) Incorporate a recall feature that will allow you to bring up previously transmitted messages. Each press of the recall button will bring up the next oldest message. 4) The message response box should be more specific. Instead of just saying 'FP transmitted successfully' or 'NOTAM transmitted successfully' it should say 'FP for NOTAM (ID) transmitted successfully' or 'NOTAM for FAI transmitted successfully' and it should remain in the message response area until the next message is transmitted.

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.