Narrative:

I came into work tired and sick because I have a cold and I did not sleep well. There have been several people sick at work so I came into work even though I am not 100% because I know that I was needed for staffing. I brought in daytime cold medicine to take and asked the supervisor if it was ok to take. The supervisor had to call the regional flight surgeon and we never got a response back so I didn't take the medicine. I was contemplating going home on sick leave if the regional flight surgeon did not get back to me. About 2 hours went by when another controller offered me alegra and sudafed for my cold. I verified with the manager that it was ok to take these medicines. I felt a little better after taking the medicines and stayed at work. I was assigned training to local 1 with a very green developmental. We were busy with complex traffic on runway 12 and most of the session was worked by me with the trainee looking on and trying to keep up. The event in question happened early on in this next session. The locals were split and I was working light to moderate traffic on local 1. I was definitely fatigued and realized this so I was trying diligently to keep my performance and awareness high. A C210 was on an ILS to RY21L and I cleared him to land. The C210 then advised me that he wanted to cancel IFR and execute a missed approach to the west. Until this point; the C210 was tagged on my radar. I then had the C210 squawk 1200 and the data tag on my radar display dropped. A supervisor; who was working the local 2 position next to me; asked if it was ok if we combined positions. I said yes; and started to take the position when a cirrus called for departure. I had moved the arrival strip on the C210 to the side (not where I typically place arrivals) and the data tag had dropped so I temporarily forgot the C210 and cleared the cirrus for takeoff. I don't know what made me aware of the situation but I suddenly remembered that the C210 was on final and I instinctively told the C210 to go around and offset 15 degrees left. When I did this the C210 was on very short final and I assume that cirrus did not scan the final before taking the runway because they definitely would have seen the C210. The whole situation upset me but I was able to collect myself and continue to work the traffic. First off; I should not have come to work since I wasn't 100%. Second; the FAA needs a better method of determining what medications are ok for working. A protected website to use for reference would be a lot better than making a phone call to someone who may or may not be in. The FAA needs to properly staff facilities over what the minimum are so that employees do not feel pressure to come to work when sick and aren't pressured to work when fatigued. Additionally; it is my opinion that the supervisor working local 2 position felt pressure to close the position and combine because staffing was such that it was necessary in order to give controllers a break from the operational area. I take complete responsibility for my mistake; but I do feel that there were a lot of contributing factors. For my part; as soon as the C210 told me he wanted to cancel; I should have left him on his code so that the track would have remained on my radar and I should have definitely placed a strip in a position to indicate the runway was being used. I also feel like I am a strong controller so I do not think that the supervisor was watching me as diligently as they would have watched a greener controller. I also feel that the cirrus pilot could have looked at the final before taking the runway for departure and seen the C210 on final and helped prevent this situation. Next time I am asked to combine positions; I may delay the briefing until such time there are no critical situations taking place.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Tower Local Controller described a required go-around event when clearing an aircraft for take off with traffic on short final; the reporter was ill and on medications.

Narrative: I came into work tired and sick because I have a cold and I did not sleep well. There have been several people sick at work so I came into work even though I am not 100% because I know that I was needed for staffing. I brought in daytime cold medicine to take and asked the Supervisor if it was OK to take. The Supervisor had to call the Regional Flight Surgeon and we never got a response back so I didn't take the medicine. I was contemplating going home on sick leave if the Regional Flight Surgeon did not get back to me. About 2 hours went by when another Controller offered me Alegra and Sudafed for my cold. I verified with the Manager that it was OK to take these medicines. I felt a little better after taking the medicines and stayed at work. I was assigned training to Local 1 with a very green Developmental. We were busy with complex traffic on Runway 12 and most of the session was worked by me with the Trainee looking on and trying to keep up. The event in question happened early on in this next session. The locals were split and I was working light to moderate traffic on Local 1. I was definitely fatigued and realized this so I was trying diligently to keep my performance and awareness high. A C210 was on an ILS to RY21L and I cleared him to land. The C210 then advised me that he wanted to cancel IFR and execute a missed approach to the west. Until this point; the C210 was tagged on my RADAR. I then had the C210 squawk 1200 and the data tag on my RADAR display dropped. A Supervisor; who was working the Local 2 position next to me; asked if it was OK if we combined positions. I said yes; and started to take the position when a Cirrus called for departure. I had moved the arrival strip on the C210 to the side (not where I typically place arrivals) and the data tag had dropped so I temporarily forgot the C210 and cleared the Cirrus for takeoff. I don't know what made me aware of the situation but I suddenly remembered that the C210 was on final and I instinctively told the C210 to go around and offset 15 degrees left. When I did this the C210 was on very short final and I assume that Cirrus did not scan the final before taking the runway because they definitely would have seen the C210. The whole situation upset me but I was able to collect myself and continue to work the traffic. First off; I should not have come to work since I wasn't 100%. Second; the FAA needs a better method of determining what medications are OK for working. A protected website to use for reference would be a lot better than making a phone call to someone who may or may not be in. The FAA needs to properly staff facilities over what the minimum are so that employees do not feel pressure to come to work when sick and aren't pressured to work when fatigued. Additionally; it is my opinion that the Supervisor working Local 2 position felt pressure to close the position and combine because staffing was such that it was necessary in order to give Controllers a break from the operational area. I take complete responsibility for my mistake; but I do feel that there were a lot of contributing factors. For my part; as soon as the C210 told me he wanted to cancel; I should have left him on his code so that the track would have remained on my RADAR and I should have definitely placed a strip in a position to indicate the runway was being used. I also feel like I am a strong controller so I do not think that the Supervisor was watching me as diligently as they would have watched a greener controller. I also feel that the Cirrus pilot could have looked at the final before taking the runway for departure and seen the C210 on final and helped prevent this situation. Next time I am asked to combine positions; I may delay the briefing until such time there are no critical situations taking place.

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.