Narrative:

I was working the controller in charge position when notified by the local assist 1 controller that approach control had advised them over the land line to keep the runway available because there was an aircraft inbound with unknown distress. I then received a call from TRACON that the aircraft had a fire; was an emergency and that they (TRACON) were trying to get the aircraft down. (The aircraft was descending out of 3;000 ft and was above a ceiling of 1;000 ft.) I rang the crash phone for the emergency vehicles to stand-by and monitored the local 1 position and heard that the aircraft was now on the local 1 controller's frequency. The aircraft was still above the cloud layer and requesting vectors to land. The local 1 controller continually advised the aircraft of the airport's location until he was directly overhead. The aircraft still did not have the airport in sight and the local 1 controller was having a difficult time. I advised him of a heading to give the aircraft that would put him on a downwind and then told him when to give him a heading for a base turn. Another controller present in the cab was a pilot and suggested asking if the aircraft could intercept the localizer. I advised local 1 to turn the aircraft to final and ask if he could receive the localizer. The local 1 did so and the aircraft got the localizer and had the airport in sight and proceeded to land. The aircraft had only one engine operating at the time of landing and the aircraft had been on an IFR flight plan. I believe this was an unsafe operation by TRACON in that they cleared this aircraft for a visual approach when he was on top of a cloud layer and then just switched him to the tower frequency. Additionally; the local 1 controller and the local assist 1 controllers were both fairly new and if there had been an inexperienced controller in charge the aircraft may not have landed safely.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Tower Controller in Charge reported an emergency arrival was cleared for a visual approach when clouds were a factor. Tower personnel vectored the aircraft to the localizer where the aircraft landed safely.

Narrative: I was working the CIC position when notified by the Local Assist 1 Controller that Approach Control had advised them over the land line to keep the runway available because there was an aircraft inbound with unknown distress. I then received a call from TRACON that the aircraft had a fire; was an emergency and that they (TRACON) were trying to get the aircraft down. (The aircraft was descending out of 3;000 FT and was above a ceiling of 1;000 FT.) I rang the crash phone for the emergency vehicles to stand-by and monitored the Local 1 position and heard that the aircraft was now on the Local 1 Controller's frequency. The aircraft was still above the cloud layer and requesting vectors to land. The Local 1 Controller continually advised the aircraft of the airport's location until he was directly overhead. The aircraft still did not have the airport in sight and the Local 1 Controller was having a difficult time. I advised him of a heading to give the aircraft that would put him on a downwind and then told him when to give him a heading for a base turn. Another Controller present in the cab was a pilot and suggested asking if the aircraft could intercept the localizer. I advised Local 1 to turn the aircraft to final and ask if he could receive the localizer. The Local 1 did so and the aircraft got the localizer and had the airport in sight and proceeded to land. The aircraft had only one engine operating at the time of landing and the aircraft had been on an IFR flight plan. I believe this was an unsafe operation by TRACON in that they cleared this aircraft for a visual approach when he was on top of a cloud layer and then just switched him to the Tower frequency. Additionally; the Local 1 Controller and the Local Assist 1 Controllers were both fairly new and if there had been an inexperienced CIC the aircraft may not have landed safely.

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.