Narrative:

This was an airspace deviation; concurrent with a MVA violation. I was working local at mkc and had an untagged VFR departure exiting my airspace to the northeast. I saw that mci had a tagged IFR aircraft in the vicinity of my departure at an altitude that I thought warranted a traffic call. The data block of mci's aircraft did not indicate a destination and the aircraft appeared to be staying at an altitude of about 2;300 MSL. I didn't know if the IFR was supposed to be climbing or descending; or where he was going; so I gave the traffic call the best I could. My aircraft reported the other aircraft in sight; and they appeared to pass less than 1 mile apart; but with 3 or 4 hundred feet between them vertically; which is plenty with a VFR in class east airspace. The IFR aircraft appeared to be on a path that would cause it to skirt down the east boundary of my class D at about 2;300 ft MSL. After the aircraft appeared to have passed on radar; the conflict alert (ca-ca) alarm beeped and flashed. This is normal; in the terminal environment the (ca-ca) often waits until the aircraft have already passed before sounding; it's almost entirely useless as a safety aid. It's a running joke. After the (ca-ca) goes off; I noticed that the approach controller turned the IFR aircraft west; right into the class D. I know this wasn't an evasive maneuver initiated by the pilot; my guy saw him a mile or more before this; and they had already passed with loads of vertical separation. It appeared to have been a 'panic vector' initiated by the approach controller at the sounding of the (ca-ca). After the aircraft was about 1.5-2 miles into my airspace; mci called on the shout line with 'traffic.' I have no gripe with the idea that you peel airplanes apart first and clean up the coordination later. I am a little concerned about the idea that a controller would issue panic vectors for untagged VFR targets; not knowing what the VFR guy is doing; or even having verified the altitude. Later; the approach controller said; 'he's westbound to goodland; kansas.' I said 'at or above 2;500 ft; point out approved'; I had another aircraft in closed traffic doing touch-n-goes; at about 1;800 ft the highest obstruction in the area is just under 2;100 ft hence the altitude restriction on the point out. The aircraft then turned south; then west and exited the southwest boundary of the delta [airspace]. If I recall correctly; the aircraft never reached the MVA (3;000) until after passing the highest obstructions in the MVA. The MVA in this area is 3;000 ft MSL. This was a pretty screwed-up operation throughout from a legal standpoint; and was pretty unsafe; too. Finally; as an added point of interest; the low altitude alarm (la-la); which I'm sure you've heard about before; never once went off during this whole scenario. Recommendation; 1) it would be nice to know that mci knows what the MVA is for and what the rules are that pertain to it. 2) same thing with point-out procedures to an adjacent facility with radar. 3) same thing with the function of the (ca-ca). 4) see if you can do something about the dozens of erroneous (la-la) alarms received; but never in my experience has it actually alerted anyone to a real low altitude issue.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: MKC Local Controller voiced concern regarding MCI Controllers application of Conflict Alert and MVA standards; with additional concerns regarding the Low Altitude Alert functionality.

Narrative: This was an airspace deviation; concurrent with a MVA violation. I was working Local at MKC and had an untagged VFR departure exiting my airspace to the northeast. I saw that MCI had a tagged IFR aircraft in the vicinity of my departure at an altitude that I thought warranted a traffic call. The data block of MCI's aircraft did not indicate a destination and the aircraft appeared to be staying at an altitude of about 2;300 MSL. I didn't know if the IFR was supposed to be climbing or descending; or where he was going; so I gave the traffic call the best I could. My aircraft reported the other aircraft in sight; and they appeared to pass less than 1 mile apart; but with 3 or 4 hundred feet between them vertically; which is plenty with a VFR in Class E airspace. The IFR aircraft appeared to be on a path that would cause it to skirt down the east boundary of my Class D at about 2;300 FT MSL. After the aircraft appeared to have passed on RADAR; the Conflict Alert (CA-CA) alarm beeped and flashed. This is normal; in the terminal environment the (CA-CA) often waits until the aircraft have already passed before sounding; it's almost entirely useless as a safety aid. It's a running joke. After the (CA-CA) goes off; I noticed that the Approach Controller turned the IFR aircraft west; right into the Class D. I know this wasn't an evasive maneuver initiated by the pilot; my guy saw him a mile or more before this; and they had already passed with loads of vertical separation. It appeared to have been a 'panic vector' initiated by the Approach Controller at the sounding of the (CA-CA). After the aircraft was about 1.5-2 miles into my airspace; MCI called on the shout line with 'traffic.' I have no gripe with the idea that you peel airplanes apart first and clean up the coordination later. I am a little concerned about the idea that a Controller would issue panic vectors for untagged VFR targets; not knowing what the VFR guy is doing; or even having verified the altitude. Later; the Approach Controller said; 'He's westbound to Goodland; Kansas.' I said 'at or above 2;500 FT; point out approved'; I had another aircraft in closed traffic doing touch-n-goes; at about 1;800 FT the highest obstruction in the area is just under 2;100 FT hence the altitude restriction on the point out. The aircraft then turned south; then west and exited the southwest boundary of the Delta [airspace]. If I recall correctly; the aircraft never reached the MVA (3;000) until after passing the highest obstructions in the MVA. The MVA in this area is 3;000 FT MSL. This was a pretty screwed-up operation throughout from a legal standpoint; and was pretty unsafe; too. Finally; as an added point of interest; the Low Altitude Alarm (LA-LA); which I'm sure you've heard about before; never once went off during this whole scenario. Recommendation; 1) It would be nice to know that MCI knows what the MVA is for and what the rules are that pertain to it. 2) Same thing with Point-Out procedures to an adjacent facility with RADAR. 3) Same thing with the function of the (CA-CA). 4) See if you can do something about the dozens of erroneous (LA-LA) alarms received; but never in my experience has it actually alerted anyone to a real Low Altitude issue.

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.