Tower controller described confused emergency event involving an air carrier due to frequency and po...

Narrative:

The tower staffing was clearance delivery/FD; two ground; two local; cab-coordinator and controller in charge. A B757 was a inbound emergency with one engine out. The controller in charge made the decision to combine grounds and have the other ground work the emergency discrete frequency. Normally; with cab coordinator open; they would handle the emergency discrete frequency. Once the ground position was combined; I had to monitor two frequencies. It became impossible to listen to multiple aircraft and emergency vehicles calling on different frequencies. The traffic complexity was so great; that ground traffic had come to a halt because of communication overload. Recommendation; ideally; the cab-coordinator would have been the best person to handle the discrete frequency. In the absence of the cc; the controller in charge would have been next in line. The main issue is the way that 126.4 frequency is published. In the past; 126.4 was a non-published frequency. When in use; if a user called on the main frequency; they would be told to use the correct frequency; but they would not be stepping on anybody. I would strongly suggest we go back to the way it was done in the past and not publish 126.4 but put the frequency on the ATIS.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Tower Controller described confused emergency event involving an air carrier due to frequency and position assignments; noting the procedure used during this instance was less than efficient.

Narrative: The Tower staffing was CD/FD; two Ground; two Local; Cab-Coordinator and CIC. A B757 was a inbound emergency with one engine out. The CIC made the decision to combine grounds and have the other ground work the emergency discrete frequency. Normally; with Cab Coordinator open; they would handle the emergency discrete frequency. Once the Ground Position was combined; I had to monitor two frequencies. It became impossible to listen to multiple aircraft and emergency vehicles calling on different frequencies. The traffic complexity was so great; that ground traffic had come to a halt because of communication overload. Recommendation; ideally; the Cab-Coordinator would have been the best person to handle the discrete frequency. In the absence of the CC; the CIC would have been next in line. The main issue is the way that 126.4 frequency is published. In the past; 126.4 was a non-published frequency. When in use; if a user called on the main frequency; they would be told to use the correct frequency; but they would not be stepping on anybody. I would strongly suggest we go back to the way it was done in the past and not publish 126.4 but put the frequency on the ATIS.

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.

Attributes
ACN	903906
Time
Date	201008
Local Time Of Day	1801-2400
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B757-300
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Landing Final Approach
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Local
Qualification	Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types

Tower controller described confused emergency event involving an air carrier due to frequency and position assignments; noting the procedure used during this instance was less than efficient.