Narrative:

The event information page doesn't make it easy to communicate regarding an overdue aircraft not being flagged as such by uret (user request evaluation tool). Aircraft X departed lit headed southeast. For whatever reason; the anticipated track position plotted by uret eventually ran well ahead of the target. When checking my gpd (graphic plan display) on sector 66; I noticed the anticipated position of aircraft X to be well within my airspace. A check of my acl (aircraft list) showed no overdue; but (unk) track control. The track was not being probed since it was still in little rock approach airspace. Although this particular instance was no cause for worry; I visually backtracked along his route and found his code in lit airspace; it is symptomatic of situations I've observed when uret did not flag an aircraft as overdue although it's projected route had progressed the sector. Search and rescue is a time-critical service and we need to recognize when someone doesn't show up. I teach my developmental/s to run down every instance of overdue notification no matter how unbelievable; and to stay aware of coming traffic so you notice if somebody you anticipated has not shown up. But I know there are many controllers who have developed a more passive relationship with the uret and rely totally upon the alerts it makes. Work to make uret overdue annotation better. There are instances when an aircraft is not overdue but is flagged so; there are instances when an aircraft is overdue but are not flagged as such; and there are instances when an aircraft is forced in the acl and flagged overdue when the aircraft has progressed through the sector hours ago and is on-time and long gone. Every instance of incorrect overdue annotation breeds distrust in the notification and apathy for the alert.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: ZME Controller voiced concern regarding the URET functionality with respect to over-due aircraft notations; adding this anomaly breeds distrust and apathy among controllers utilizing the URET system.

Narrative: The Event Information page doesn't make it easy to communicate regarding an overdue aircraft not being flagged as such by URET (User Request Evaluation Tool). Aircraft X departed LIT headed southeast. For whatever reason; the anticipated track position plotted by URET eventually ran well ahead of the target. When checking my GPD (Graphic Plan Display) on Sector 66; I noticed the anticipated position of Aircraft X to be well within my airspace. A check of my ACL (Aircraft List) showed no overdue; but (UNK) track control. The track was not being probed since it was still in Little Rock Approach airspace. Although this particular instance was no cause for worry; I visually backtracked along his route and found his code in LIT Airspace; it is symptomatic of situations I've observed when URET did not flag an aircraft as overdue although it's projected route had progressed the sector. Search and Rescue is a time-critical service and we need to recognize when someone doesn't show up. I teach my Developmental/s to run down every instance of overdue notification no matter how unbelievable; and to stay aware of coming traffic so you notice if somebody you anticipated has not shown up. But I know there are many controllers who have developed a more passive relationship with the URET and rely totally upon the alerts it makes. Work to make URET overdue annotation better. There are instances when an aircraft is not overdue but is flagged so; there are instances when an aircraft is overdue but are not flagged as such; and there are instances when an aircraft is forced in the ACL and flagged overdue when the aircraft has progressed through the sector hours ago and is on-time and long gone. Every instance of incorrect overdue annotation breeds distrust in the notification and apathy for the alert.

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.