Narrative:

I was called to 42/40 as the d-side. I sat down and received a quick verbal briefing; not recorded; as the r-side thought it was too busy for a recording. The controller was moderately busy; but not unusually so; given the sector combination. They had previously noticed the conflict between a B777; southbound at FL360; and a formation flight consisting of 2 B2s northeast bound at fl350b360. The formation flight's route plan had an unusual arc to the north; and then proceeded southbound around the ovr VORTAC. An A320 was southbound direct ict. We discussed the situation; and I got control from sectors 29 and 30 for a right turn on the B777. Neither FL370 nor FL380 were available for the B777 due to over flight traffic. The r-side turned the B777 to a 255 heading to allow the formation flight more room to complete its right turn. At this point; using the route readout function; it looked as if there would be enough separation between the two aircraft and the formation flight and we continued to work the sector. About the time that we expected the formation flight to turn to the right; conflict alert began to flash between the formation flight and the A320. The r-side responded to this by turning the A320 020 degrees to the right; and we quickly discussed the fact that both of us initially didn't consider the A320 traffic for the formation flight. We were both under the assumption that the formation flight would have been established in the right turn before that developed. At this point the r-side asked whether the formation flight was established in their right turn to the east; receiving an affirmative answer. As the situation continued to evolve; and approximately 30 seconds passed; I noticed the formation flight still didn't look like it was established in the right turn. I pointed this out to the r-side; and said that this situation was 'not looking good'. They agreed and turned the A320 to a 270 heading. The controller then asked the formation flight if they could maintain FL350. When I heard this line of thought; I called R39 to point the formation flight out descending to fl340b350 in case they couldn't both maintain FL350. The formation flight aircraft could both maintain FL350; and so this call was not needed. The r-side called the traffic and expedited one flight member to FL350. The best move would have been to descend the formation flight earlier; or turn the B777 earlier; more to the right.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: ZMP Controller working a D-Side position described a loss of separation event when the R-Side Controller's turn instructions to a military flight and Air Carrier were not enough to secure needed separation.

Narrative: I was called to 42/40 as the D-Side. I sat down and received a quick verbal briefing; not recorded; as the R-Side thought it was too busy for a recording. The Controller was moderately busy; but not unusually so; given the sector combination. They had previously noticed the conflict between a B777; southbound at FL360; and a formation flight consisting of 2 B2s northeast bound at FL350B360. The formation flight's route plan had an unusual arc to the north; and then proceeded southbound around the OVR VORTAC. An A320 was southbound direct ICT. We discussed the situation; and I got control from Sectors 29 and 30 for a right turn on the B777. Neither FL370 nor FL380 were available for the B777 due to over flight traffic. The R-Side turned the B777 to a 255 heading to allow the formation flight more room to complete its right turn. At this point; using the route readout function; it looked as if there would be enough separation between the two aircraft and the formation flight and we continued to work the sector. About the time that we expected the formation flight to turn to the right; Conflict Alert began to flash between the formation flight and the A320. The R-Side responded to this by turning the A320 020 degrees to the right; and we quickly discussed the fact that both of us initially didn't consider the A320 traffic for the formation flight. We were both under the assumption that the formation flight would have been established in the right turn before that developed. At this point the R-Side asked whether the formation flight was established in their right turn to the east; receiving an affirmative answer. As the situation continued to evolve; and approximately 30 seconds passed; I noticed the formation flight still didn't look like it was established in the right turn. I pointed this out to the R-Side; and said that this situation was 'not looking good'. They agreed and turned the A320 to a 270 heading. The Controller then asked the formation flight if they could maintain FL350. When I heard this line of thought; I called R39 to point the formation flight out descending to FL340B350 in case they couldn't both maintain FL350. The formation flight aircraft could both maintain FL350; and so this call was not needed. The R-Side called the traffic and expedited one flight member to FL350. The best move would have been to descend the formation flight earlier; or turn the B777 earlier; more to the right.

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.